Pulse
by jlajulia
Summary: Loki has managed to escape his captors at the end of The Avengers. Using what little magic he has, he teleports and ends up in a stranger's kitchen. The young woman he finds there reluctantly agrees to let him stay, after some threats, while he tries to regain his power. "Why don't you just kill me?" "Darling, I wouldn't want anyone to come looking for you." Dark Loki x OC
1. Chapter 1: Don't Move

_Pulse_

Loki has managed to escape his captors at the end of The Avengers. Using what little magic he has, he teleports as far away as he can and ends up in a stranger's kitchen. The young woman he finds there reluctantly agrees to let him stay, after some threats, while he tries to regain his power. "_Why don't you just kill me?" "Darling, I wouldn't want anyone to come looking for you."_ Dark Loki x OC

Set at the end of Avengers when Loki is apprehended. From there, things do not go as they should.

Rated M for language and adult themes ;)

Chapter One: Don't Move

Eve balanced her cell phone in between her right ear and shoulder as she ate a bowl of cereal. "I'm completely at a loss, Sam," she groaned and plopped down on her couch. "My building literally got blown up yesterday. I have no job anymore-due to aliens-and now I have to fill out _job applications_. I'll just leave the 'why did you leave your last job' section blank and hope they don't ask."

"And if they do ask?" Sam responded, sounding too amused for her liking.

"Then I'll say that aliens blew up my last job. It could be worse. At least the entire event was televised. It's not like I'm some nut making the whole thing up." She hastily slid her bowl onto the coffee table so she could wrangle her long brown hair into a messy ponytail.

"Shit, I should quit my job and say that aliens blew it up," he laughed. Eve sat stone-faced and stared ahead at her muted TV which had been stuck on the local news for the better part of the day. Shots of torn up streets and crying civilians rolled on and on.

"At least we don't live in the city, that must be a nightmare right now." She retrieved her cereal mid sentence and chowed down.

"You're lucky your mom's house is-"

"Sam, let's not talk about my mom," she bit into the phone.

"What? Jeez, all I did was mention her."

"Well don't."

"Fine. Yeah. Anyway, do you want me to come over?"

Eve pretended she was considering it before delivering a curt, "No."

"Are you really this upset about what I said? I didn't even _say_ anything!" He dripped desperation off of every word.

"I'm not mad, Sam, just have a lot on my plate. I'll call you tomorrow. Deal?"

"Deal," he made no effort to hide his disappointment and hung up.

Sam was a stand up guy, there was no doubt about that. Eve had known him forever. Longer than forever, their mothers had them on playdates when they were still in their respective wombs twenty five years ago. Everyone in her life-including herself at times-had always thought that her and Sam would end up together in the end. They would live a moderately happy life off his steady paycheck, pop out a few rugrats and do all the things married people are supposed to do. She had tried for years to push past whatever was stopping her from loving him that way, but when she thought about their future the bottom line was that she would be bored.

So when Sam finally got up the courage to kiss her last week, it left a bittersweet taste in her mouth. In that moment it was more clear than it ever had been. When she rejected him, he pretended to take it very well. Still, their conversations since had been tense and she didn't really want to see him. She was confident that the wounds would heal in time.

She stood quickly and sighed as the remaining milk in her bowl spilled onto the carpet. The events of the day before had left her distracted and apparently careless. She trudged to the kitchen to retrieve paper towels and threw the bowl on the counter along the way.

As she got down on her hands and knees to soak up the liquid, she heard the ceramic bowl crash to the floor. She righted herself on her knees and grimaced. Had she really placed it so close to the edge that-

She faltered as a long-fingered hand pressed a cool, sharp chunk of ceramic up against her throat from behind. "Do not move," commanded a sultry voice in her ear, "not an inch."

_Earlier_

Agent Barton leaned back and glared at the criminal, clutching his bow so tight his fingers were white. "Are you sure I can't just kill him? I'll make it real quick, easy to clean up."

Tony, lounging in a metal chair, didn't even look up from his newspaper. "I have no objections. Man, we are in here a _lot_ today!" He gestured towards the crinkled pages and smiled wide at Barton, who remained unamused. "Eh, lighten up. He'll get what's comin' to him. Hammertime himself is going to make sure of that."

Barton seemed not to hear this and raised his weapon, aiming it right between Loki's cool blue eyes. Thor snatched it from him, effectively breaking his concentration. "Be careful, archer. You'd be wise not to threaten my kin."

Offended, Barton lunged forward to steal his bow back. "You don't know what it was like," he sneered through gritted teeth.

Thor whipped the bow out of his hands now so that it flew across the room. "I do not doubt your trouble. I simply request you mind your place."

"My place?" He scoffed. "My _place_?"

"Loki has done evil deeds here, there is no dispute. But were he not restrained and outnumbered, he would easily best you in combat. So I say-mind your place. To threaten him is to threaten a wolf in a trap. Shameless."

At this the God of Mischief perked up. "Do you mean to say that I'm as good as dead anyway, brother?" He leaned back in his chair. The room they were in was too small for the four of them. Loki sat at one end as the others positioned themselves away from him. His wrists and ankles were bound, yet he still looked smug and comfortable.

Thor stared at the floor. "Do not speak to me."

"Why not? It was a simple question."

"I am under no requirement to answer your questions."

Loki grinned, desperate to push his mock brother's temper. "If I'm as good as dead, why not let the archer kill me? He deserves to deliver the killing blow just as much as-"

"Enough!" Thor boomed, slamming his fist into the wall and leaving a sizable dent in the metal.

Tony widened his eyes a bit. "Excessive, dontcha think?"

Thor's eyes looked like they were about to leap out of his skull. "What is taking Fury so long? We have been watching him in shifts for far too long, now. All I need is to get Loki back to Asgard so our father-"

"_Your_ father," Loki corrected.

"And yet you call me brother!"

"As a farce, a mockery of us. A frost giant raised side by side with a royal blooded Asgardian. Laufeyson and Odinson, one big happy family."

Thor was fuming, gripping Mjolnir now as Barton had gripped his bow. Tony recognized the potential danger in this. "Okay, big guy, why don't you head outside for some fresh air?" Thor complied quietly, steam practically shooting out of his ears. Barton, meanwhile, maintained his severe eye contact with the man who'd taken over his mind.

Loki chuckled. "Oh, you sad angry man. Still upset I used you as my pawn?"

Tony abandoned his carefree attitude momentarily. "Cool it. I've had enough of your shit for today. In fact, for a lifetime."

"I'm bored," Loki continued lazily, "maybe you could help us pass the time, archer, by describing what it was like to be under my hypnosis?"

Barton inhaled sharply. "Okay, we need to get this guy a gag or something. Anything to shut him up."

Tony threw down his paper. "What an excellent idea! I'm sure I can scrounge up something. Back in two shakes." He left swiftly, armor clanking with each step, and let the door slam behind him.

"Just you and me," Loki's lips curled into a devilish smile as he eyed up Barton. "What shall we talk about?"

"Keep your goddamn mouth shut, you got it?"

"You know, even though the lovely Miss Romanov was able to knock you out of my trance, you still have traces of my magic lingering inside you. Can you feel them? They're there, oh, trust me. It's why you'll never forget about it. Not a day will go by that you don't think about it. You'll be constantly reminded that I took you so easily-" He stopped abruptly as Barton rushed over to him, neglecting to retrieve his bow.

"Maybe Thor was right," Barton spat, "to kill you like this would be shameless. You don't even have your powers. Your _daddy_ took them away from you."

Loki stood with ease and the ropes that once bound him fell to the ground. Barton took a step back in shock. "You're surprised?" Loki taunted. "I've had those knots untied for hours. And you, over there staring at me, you didn't even see me do it. No, I haven't got my magic, and maybe that's why you fools saw fit to bind me with fisherman's rope while you babysat me in this tiny room. You are going to be in so much trouble when they come back."

"Why do you say that? Without your magic, you're no match for me, regardless of what Thor thinks."

Loki smirked. "When I said my magic still remains in you, that was not some metaphor meant to burn you. I mean that literally, and it's so close that I can taste it." In one swift movement, he reached forward and squeezed Barton's neck. He pulled out what little magic was left and threw his foe to the ground before teleporting as far away as the small amount would allow him. He stumbled forward when he landed, very weak, and bent his chest over a nearby counter. This movement knocked a bowl onto the floor and shattered it. He heard movement in the next room and grabbed up the longest, sharpest piece. He crept into the room and saw a girl on her knees with her back to him, head tilted slightly as she'd undoubtedly heard the noise. With light, swift steps he knelt behind her and positioned the jagged edge to her soft neck. "Do not move," he instructed, "not an inch."

A/N:

Trying out this idea that's been floating around in my head for a while now. Criticism and reviews are obviously more than appreciated-let me know if you'd like to read more :)


	2. Chapter 2: Menace

Chapter Two: Menace

Tony strolled down the hallway, gag in hand, and whistled his favorite Black Sabbath tune. He stopped dead in his tracks when his eyes met Barton's. "What are you doing out here? You left Loki _alone_?"

Barton was running toward him and stopped hastily, sliding a bit on the linoleum. He was panting. "No, I, he, he got away."

Tony dropped the gag. From behind him, he heard heavy footsteps. "Ah, shit," he muttered.

"Men-why are you outside? What of Loki?" Thor barked from down the hall.

Tony and Barton exchanged panicked glances. "It's all you, buddy," Tony jeered, trying desperately to hide his own panic.

Barton met Thor's gaze as he stormed up to them, looking ashamed and terrified. "Your brother, he-"

"Out with it!" Thor demanded in distress.

"He was able to use the traces of magic left in my body to teleport away."

Anger shot through Thor in waves. "You were alone with him?"

Tony took a defensive, nervous step back. "Hey, man, you left too."

"Because you asked me to! I thought it was implied that none of us should be left alone with him-especially with his tricks! We should have sewn his lips shut!"

"Oh! Well," Tony jumped back in excitedly, "that's where I was! Going to get a gag to keep him from getting silver spit all over us." He hastily picked it up from the floor and showed it to the god, who was not appreciative.

Thor gathered his thoughts for a moment, forcing himself to be calm. "The good news is, chances are he is very weak. This was a desperation gambit, nothing more than a fool's attempt to prolong his fate. Which, now, will be all the worse. The bad news-"

Tony grimaced. "Let's be honest with ourselves, most of it is bad news."

Thor glared at him. "He could be anywhere."

_Elsewhere_

Eve wasn't even breathing. What the _fuck_ was happening?

"Good girl," cooed the menace. He felt her trembling, his chest was pressed against her back. Her fear was palpable, tense and very real. "Are you going to scream?" She shook her head weakly. Truth be told, all she wanted to do was scream. Loud. "Smart choice, because if you scream, I will definitely be forced to kill you." She let out the smallest of whimpers and when he was sure she would remain quiet, he removed the makeshift weapon from her neck.

She shuffled away from him, still on her knees, and he grabbed her elbow to hold her back. "N-no," she whispered, "I'll be quiet, I'll be quiet."

Now this girl was _particularly_ frightened. The surprise entrance really gave him an edge. She stayed perfectly still apart from the involuntary nervous shudders that pulsed through the arm he had hold of. He lifted her up as he stood and shoved her onto the couch. She exhaled forcefully and avoided his eyes. She curled her knees into her chest where she sat and wrapped her arms around them. He sat down close to her and made sure she was aware he still held the hunk of bowl, ready to cut her at a moment's notice. He put two fingers under her chin and lifted until she was forced to look him in the eyes. "If you do what I ask, there will be no reason to be afraid."

Eve felt herself blinking too much, scared to break eye contact but equally scared to look into the face of the man who'd caused so much destruction. She obviously didn't want to call him a liar, but she didn't believe him. He grinned and his eyes twinkled with a mischievous light. "Alright," he started up again, "maybe I was being overly generous. There will still be plenty of reasons to be afraid. But you must learn to be thankful for the things that frighten you," he played with the shard in his hand and eyed it up, "if you're frightened, it means you're still alive."

She nodded, pushing her chin lightly into his smooth fingers with each movement. "Good!" He exclaimed and backed away from her, lounging now with his feet up on the coffee table. He was clad in a far more understated outfit than the one he'd been seen in on television, a simple slimming, dark grey shirt and pants paired with dress shoes and a muted green tie that hung loose on his neck as though it'd been worn for too long. In all honesty he looked exhausted. "Now that we're on the same page, my dear, let's discuss my predicament."

He paused and considered telling her the truth, that he needed time to figure out how to regain his powers. The thought nearly made him laugh out loud. He continued confidently, silver tongue spilling sweet silky lies into her ears. How would this simpleton know any better, anyway? "I need a place to stay where they can't find me. Tell me, is there any reason SHIELD or their various associates would come around here?"

Eve stammered in a miniature panic. He'd asked her a question. A question she had no idea how to answer. "I, um, I don't know," she managed to get out before sighing in distress. The wrong answer, if she couldn't be of use to him, seemed to equate to fatal slash wounds all over her body.

"You don't know? Think."

"No, I mean, I don't know what SHIELD is. What is it?"

"That's as good of an answer as any, I suppose. Better than 'Nick Fury is my uncle' or something like that."

"Who's-"

"Very good! Now, are you familiar with the Avengers?"

"Just what I've seen on TV. I know they're, uh, superheroes and all that."

"Do you know any of them personally?"

She laughed in spite of herself. "No!" She felt she may have objected too loudly. "Ah, that came out too eager, but really, I don't. Can't you just read my mind? I'm not lying!"

He stared her down, looking bored. "If that's what you want." He closed his eyes and pretended. He didn't even have enough magic left to read this mortal's insignificant thoughts. He would just have to trust that she offered up her mind as a token of honesty, and if she _was_ lying, she'd be punished for it later. He nodded solemnly and opened his eyes.

Eve smiled, relieved. "Yes. See? I have no affiliation with anyone who would mean to harm you."

He laughed. "Do you not affiliate yourself with the human race?"

She blinked. "What?"

"If you do, then you _do_ affiliate yourself with _a lot_ of people who would very much mean to harm me. Think about it."

"I, uh, I hate humans. Humans are the worst." She looked at the couch in distress. She was being an idiot.

He laughed louder now until an aura of annoyance overtook him. "Ah, I found your statement amusing until I saw the foolish motive behind it. Do not say things just to appease me. Make no mistake, woman, your fate is already sealed. The universe has seen all that has happened and will happen to you. Nothing you can do or say will change whether or not I kill you, it has already been decided. And I am not some fool who listens to the musings of mortals, understand, your words could never sway me."

"I don't know why I said that. I'm panicking."

"Has no one ever taught you to be calm under pressure?"

"Not this particular brand of pressure, no."

He rolled his eyes and shrugged vaguely. "Fine. Let's continue. You have no affiliations with anyone-apart from the human race-who would mean to harm me. That's very good. Do you live alone?"

This was actually sort of a complicated question. "Technically I don't. I live with my mother, but she's going to be gone for at least a few months."

"How do you know she won't be back?"

"She's on vacation."

Loki narrowed his eyes at her. "Is that so?" What she said sounded like a lie.

Eve sighed, realizing the man could just read her mind to see she was lying, and decided that it wasn't worth losing her life over. "No. She's in rehab. Indefinitely. That's all I'd like to say about it."

"Well, good. You're alone."

She held back a glare and swallowed the anger that welled up in her throat. This was not the time to lose her temper. "Yes, I am."

"You will let me stay here." She merely stared back at him, unable to protest. "You will help me with whatever I need help with. And I will know what you're doing always. You are not to leave this place under any circumstances. If you try to tell anyone that I'm here, the police, a friend, an enemy, I'll know. And I will _not _kill you, but tie you to some tree in the woods as I retrieve anyone and everyone you've ever cared about and kill them in front of you."

"I won't tell a soul," she promised unsteadily, secretly hoping that she _would_ be able to find a way to have the criminal apprehended.

He patted her softly on the cheek and smiled, sinister sickness spreading across his face. "Fear not. Once you get to know me-I'm actually lovely company."


	3. Chapter 3: A Bit Longer

Chapter Three: A Bit Longer

Fury scowled at his ragtag team of misfit toys. For the third time, he said, "This is ridiculous." Each Avenger, apart from Tony, avoided his gaze expertly. "Well?" Fury prompted, his agitation close to breaking his usually smooth voice. When no one responded, he rubbed his forehead and took a few steps closer to them. "Let's go over it again. What _exactly_ happened."

"Loki was infuriating me, it was suggested that I get some air to cool off," Thor contributed.

Fury pursed his lips. "And who _suggested_ such an excellent idea?"

Tony raised his hand. Before Fury could start shouting, Tony shook his head defensively. "Let me explain before you lose your mind, there, Nick. He really was angry-did you see the dent in the wall in there? He _punched_ that there. So I figured that if Thor took a quick break from that smartass, it wouldn't be the end of the world."

"Well it just so happens that it might be," Fury sneered, "what happened next?"

Tony raised his hand again and Fury's eye wandered back to him, irritation practically coating his skin in a physical grime at this point. "Clint suggested we get something, like a gag, to shut him up. Which-let's be fair, here-is a _great_ idea. So I decided to-"

"New rule!" Fury shouted, interrupting him and shutting him up. "Stark doesn't get to decide _anything_. Next."

Tony turned his head to Barton. "You're up, bud."

Steve put his hand on Barton's shoulder. "How many times are we going to go over this? We know what happened," he defended his teammate. "What we need to be doing is thinking of solutions. How do we find him?"

Bruce fiddled with a pen in his hands and chimed in for the first time. "What about that guy in Asgard-the one who sees everything? Thor, you were talking about him one of the times when we were babysitting Loki together. Thanks, by the way, for getting upset and messing things up-that's usually my job, nice to have a day off."

Thor turned to him thoughtfully, not tickled by his humor. "Heimdall? Yes, of course. Heimdall can find him for sure."

Fury clapped his hands together. "O-kay! As soon as the tesseract has been stabilized, we will send you straight back home to confer with him."

Most of the team rose in shock. "It's not even stable yet?" Natasha snapped.

"It will be soon. There was a slight hiccup in our plans when the reason we were stabilizing it _disappeared,_" Fury snapped back, trying to set the world record for angry faces made during a single conversation, "it won't be long-and then we can go get that son of a bitch."

_Elsewhere_

Loki was amazed at the girl's ability to sit quietly. If sitting quietly was an Olympic event, oh, she would bring home the gold. She still had her knees up for comfort and just stared ahead. What exactly she was staring at couldn't be discerned, but he could tell from his side of the couch what she _wasn't_ looking at-him. "Do you think that if you just sit there like a well-behaved animal, I'll vanish into thin air?

Eve shook her head. "I'm hoping I'll wake up."

He rolled his eyes-he had a feeling he'd be doing a lot of that-and went on. "I don't know how long I'm going to be here. Are you just going to sit like that until I'm gone?"

At last, she looked at him. "Yes." She stated definitively.

"Well, this is going to be no fun at all." He sat back and gazed at her. In her distress, she was admittedly poised. He truly believed she could just sit and ignore him and possibly starve to death out of stubbornness in the process. That just wouldn't do. "What's your name?" He forced an air of curiosity to coat his voice, which was ultimately a great challenge, seeing as he couldn't have cared less.

"Eve," she replied slowly.

"Well, Eve, you must have questions for me. I'm happy to answer them." She hesitated, eager to accept this offer but not sure it was genuine. "Fire away." He narrowed his eyes to encourage her.

"Okay, well, how did you get away?"

He examined his fingernails. "I'm simply too cunning to be held by that group of mismanaged cretins. Next."

"Why…" she paused, searching for the correct phrasing. It turned out to be just one word- "here?"

"I chose to teleport, but I couldn't know where I was going. It's hard to explain, and I'm afraid I don't want to waste my time explaining something it would take you years to understand. Ultimately, I let fate bring me here."

Eve's mouth hung open a bit, on the brink of words, in a muddled mix of offense and curiosity. Being called stupid turned out, after internal deliberation, not worth losing her life over. As it seemed, lots of things weren't worth that. She licked her lips and moved on. "The Avenger with the hammer is your brother or something, right? Thor?" He nodded cautiously. This was not something he wanted to talk about in any capacity. He hoped that maybe that was the extent of her questions about his brother, but on a deeper level he knew that was impossible. She went on to ask, "Why don't you two get along?"

He was now risking getting trapped in his own cyclical thoughts. They used to get along, to the degree brothers do, but- "We just don't, anymore." He silenced his internal ramblings by speaking, shifting his thoughts back to the nosy girl. Although not entirely fair to call her nosy, as he'd prompted her to ask questions, he wasn't necessarily a heavy supporter of the concept of _fair_. It had never done him any favors.

"Anymore?" She tilted her head slightly-much like a dog-and waited patiently for his response.

"I suppose this was my doing," the words dripped out and fluttered back in to make way for the next, "I didn't realize when I prompted you to ask questions that they would be so entirely _foolish_."

Eve finally let her feet touch the floor again and leaned forward defensively. "I should have known this was some sort of trap. _Ask questions-fire away!_ If you're looking for a reason to kill me, just find it already. I'm not going to sit here and play games with you until you make up your mind. I've said I'll comply, and I will. I don't see why that means you get to mess with me."

Loki watched her face fall as she realized she'd overstepped. He sighed in delight as the toxic panic sunk into her again. He waited for her knees to come back up to her chin, but they never did. "Are you sure you want those to be your last words?" He chuckled, overly entertained by the way she'd betrayed herself. "You seem to be a slave to your emotions."

She nodded jaggedly, tears appearing in the corners of her eyes now. "Fine. Fine, fine, fine, fine. One last question, why _don't_ you just kill me?"

"Darling, I wouldn't want anyone to come looking for you." She bit her cheek and blinked once, twice, three times-and then one tear escaped down the curve of her face. She looked at him, eyes glistening the way sad eyes do. "A pretty girl like you surely can't claim your death would go unnoticed."

Eve's thought's darted back and forth until she came to a depressing realization. The only person who would notice her absence would be Sam, the very man she had spurned the week before. Then she arrived at a slightly more pleasant thought. She had told Sam she would call him the next day. When she inevitably didn't, he'd come by to check on her. He'd woken her up from sleeping too late in the day a few times this way. Resilience coursed through her with each new heartbeat and she decided to appease the God of Mischief until then. "No," she assured him, "my death would not go unnoticed."

He abruptly took her hands in his, moving closer to her on the couch to do so. "Excellent! Then what do you say we stay alive a bit longer?"

She forced a smile. "Yes, I'd like that."

"Wonderful! Marvelous!" He squeezed her hands then let go of them and stood. "I'm starving," he confessed as he meandered to her kitchen.

_After Lunch_

Eve had made sandwiches for them both, all sorts. It seemed that Loki enjoyed them immensely-unless his happiness was sarcastic, who could tell? She began to gather the plates and cups strewn across the island. As she placed them in the sink, she felt a hand on her shoulder and instinctively kneed the man in the stomach. She gaped, shocked at what she'd done, and tried to find the words to apologize.

Loki held his hand on his stomach, rubbing slightly, and looked at her in stunned disbelief. They were both at a loss for what to say. Eventually Loki exhaled forcefully, half smiling, and closed the distance between them. "Why are you so brash?" He asked, inches from her face. "Why are you so…" he took a step back, "stupid?"

Her breathing was unsteady. "It was a reflex," she explained, "I was taught how to fight at a young age by my father. After he died, I took self defense classes, and then martial arts-all kinds. It was just a reflex, I wasn't trying to harm you."

"I should hope not!" Loki scoffed. "By the way, it didn't. Hurt, that is. Where were your _reflexes_ when I was threatening you before?"

"You had a weapon. It makes no sense to try to fist fight a man with a weapon. Let alone a sorcerer! Plus, I didn't want you to see me as any sort of threat. Look, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It won't happen again. I'll turn my reflexes off. Click! Ha! See! Off!" She sat down on the floor of her kitchen, tasting the edge of a very serious panic attack.

He crouched down beside her. "It's alright," he mock comforted, "even if you were the most skilled fighter in your realm, you would be no threat to me."

A/N:

I would just like to let you know that this story had been officially planned out right to the very end! Woo! No worries about getting stuck or wandering without a real point. Though, Loki is an abrasive character and he doesn't always cooperate :P


	4. Chapter 4: Go On

Chapter Four: Go On

Thor sat by the window of Jane's apartment with a somber, almost jaded look on his face. His light hair soaked up the fresh moonlight and beamed. Jane came by and caressed his bicep, willing him to talk to her. When he said nothing, she tried to spark up a conversation herself. "I'm sure they'll be done soon. They have the machine built already, they just have to modify it so-"

Thor waved his arm, shaking her dainty hand off of it. "I know all this, it was explained to me by Banner. Repeating it does nothing to quell my worries. I should be out there looking for him-now. Who knows how much damage he could do."

"Where would you even look? He could have teleported to another realm!"

Thor sighed. "His powers do not work that way. He's here, on Midgard. Somewhere. I should be the one to find him, he was my responsibility. It was I who insisted he be taken to Asgard, it was I who left him alone with those mortals."

Jane's hands found their way to his shoulders. "None of this is your fault. Arguably, it's not anyone's fault. Loki is unpredictable. Heimdall will find him and we'll bring him to justice. It will be easy, there is no chance he's strong enough to wreak any real havoc."

Thor placed his left hand over her right. "These things are true. Still," he paused thoughtfully and sighed, "If he kills just one person, it will be a great loss."

_Elsewhere_

The day passed without any other major issues, though Loki insisted on accompanying Eve wherever she went. The basement, to do laundry. The kitchen, to get water. The den, to watch TV. It took a well made argument to convince him that he didn't need to accompany her to the bathroom, though he waited at the door like the creepiest creep in the world. She washed her hands and opened the bathroom door, to see him standing there and looking bored. He seemed to derive amusement from poking fun at her daily life and constantly trying to get her to lose her temper. She was truly, truly exhausted. "I'm going to bed," she announced after breaking his gaze with a sigh.

"The sun _just_ set."

"Sorry-you'll have to taunt me tomorrow." She dragged her feet along the ground, too emotionally drained to bother walking properly. Today she had a sharp piece of bowl held to her neck-a shard he carried around with him for the rest of the day-by a crazed mass murderer who could do _magic_. Magic. Not only that, she had kneed the crazed mass murderer who could do magic in the stomach. Ultimately, she lived to tell the tale. The next day, however, had potential to end a very different way.

As she slipped off her cardigan, she caught a glimpse of herself in the vanity. Her eyes shifted immediately to Loki, who had followed her. She spun around. "What?" She snarled.

He snickered. "No need to be so hostile."

"That's okay-I prefer being a _hostage_ anyway."

"Maybe you do need sleep. You're obviously forgetting who you're speaking to."

"Yes, I do need my sleep. That's why I'm here. In my bedroom. What are _you _doing here-in my bedroom?"

"I'll turn around while you get changed, if that's what concerns you. For goodness' sake, you mortals and your modesty. Like I care what's under your garments." Getting changed in front of him wasn't what had concerned her-though, it was after he mentioned it. She was wondering if he expected to sleep in the same bed as her. Potentially to keep an eye on her and make sure she didn't try something stupid. He turned around and unceremoniously commanded, "Go on."

She changed into her pajamas, a tank top and shorts, and let him know she was finished with a quiet, "Alright."

"Do you have any men's clothes?"

She pondered this. Sam may have left some things here throughout the years. "I can check," she offered as she started rifling through the bottoms of drawers. She landed on a pair of checkered pajama pants and a t-shirt with a pocket on the chest. She handed them to him and he started changing right away, without waiting for her to turn. She did anyway, but could still see him in the vanity. She caught sight of his lean, pale body and abruptly closed her eyes when he started removing his pants. She heard him laugh under his breath.

"Alright," he echoed her, though louder and more confident. She turned back around and he had his fingers in the breast pocket of the t-shirt. "What would one ever use this for?"

"I, uh, actually I'm not sure. Pens?"

He looked up from the pocket and scrunched his face up in confusion. "_Pens_? What?"

"Do you not...know what _pens_ are?"

He removed his hand from the pocket entirely. "Yes, I know what _pens_ are. But-" he sighed, realizing it didn't matter in the slightest, "never mind." He crawled into her bed and waited. "Coming?" He beckoned her with a chipper smile.

She hesitated. Okay, it was more like she froze entirely. "Why can't I sleep on the couch? You can have the bed. It's all yours. I'll sleep in the tub. Or in the dog house out back."

"You don't have a dog-do you?"

"We used to. Not anymore."

"Ah," he got off the bed and came over to grab her by the wrist, pulling her until she had no choice but to sit on the mattress. "You will sleep here. With me. I've got no trust in you, and this is the only way for me to sleep soundly and assured that you won't do anything...regretful."

"Are you _sure_ we can't just-"

"You will sleep here."

"But, I mean, I'm not going to-"

"_You-_" he sneered through clenched teeth.

"Will sleep here," she finished, thoroughly startled. They settled into the bed, with Loki comfortably curled up, his long limbs dominating the space. Eve didn't see herself sleeping much, seeing as she was pushing the limits of how close to the edge of the bed she could possibly be. She closed her eyes anyway and waited for the hustle and bustle of the day to finally shut her brain down.

_Later That Night_

Try as she might, Eve was unsuccessful. Sleep was a long lost friend who didn't want to speak to her anymore. She waited until she was sure that Loki was asleep. His breathing was even and his mouth hung open the slightest bit. This was the first time she'd seen him relaxed and the difference in him fascinated her. She moved herself out of the bed ever so slowly, one leg at a time, never breaking eye contact with his lids. Her plan if she got caught was to pretend she'd fallen out of the bed-like an idiot. He already thought she was dim, anyway, so why not add to that?

She was able to leave the room successfully and crept to the living room, where she'd left her cell phone. However, it was no longer there. She checked the kitchen and den, lamenting at every small noise she made along the way, and never found it. What could she do? Try to make a run for it? She decided she'd better not chance it. Before she could get to anyone who would believe her, he'd realize she was gone and set a plan in motion to exact his revenge. Instead of returning to the bedroom, she opted to shower and wash the defeat off of her. If he wanted to scold her, let him. He wasn't going to be allowed in the room when she showered anyway.

_Bedroom_

Did she think he was stupid? It was difficult for him to lay still while she left with her silly, calculated movements. He had awoken the second she stirred. He pretended to remain in slumber just to see what she would do. If she got anywhere near the front door, he would punish her profusely. In any case-did she _really_ think he wouldn't notice? He listened to her move about the house, undoubtedly looking for the electronic device he'd stolen and hid to keep her out of contact with the outside world. She would never find it.

He heard her heading back toward the bedroom but she stopped at the bathroom and shut the door with the smallest _click._ He lifted himself on his elbows and listened intently. When he heard the shower running, he rose from the bed in a curious anger. He let himself into the bathroom and glanced at the mirror which was already fogging up. Eve reacted with a small gasp, as she hadn't heard him come in, but she wasn't overly surprised.

"What are you doing?" Loki barked. She neglected to answer him, so he pulled back the translucent shower door to find her down on the floor of it with her knees to her chest again. Her hair wasn't completely wet, as the steady stream of water was hitting mainly her crossed arms and knees, but it was messy and stuck to her body in places.

She stared at him with a heated indifference. Anger lurked behind her expression yet she knew she was powerless to act on it. "Just trying to get clean," she muttered.

He eyed up the soaps and body washes that rested, unused tonight, in the hanging shower organizer. "Well, you're doing a terrible job."

"Leave me alone. I'll be out in a minute."

Loki took his eyes off her for a split second to examine the window. "This window is large enough for you to crawl through. I'll wait here until you're finished."

She groaned as her freedom washed off of her with the dirt. She stood abruptly and stepped out, gaining a great deal more of his attention than she had before. She noticed the way he was looking at her and put her hands triumphantly on her hips. "I thought you didn't care what was under my garments."

He frowned and looked away, throwing her a towel off the sink.


	5. Chapter 5: Right Here

Chapter Five: Right Here

Natasha stood outside Barton's room and knocked, then again with more force when no one answered. "The machine is ready, we have to go." She spoke heavily through the door, then leaned against it and listened. She could hear him in there and he wasn't moving with any particular urgency. "Hey!" She barked, accompanying it with a pound on the door with her fist. "I know you know I can hear you in there!"

"So what?" He snipped back.

"I will kick this door down, so help me God."

"Nat," he couldn't help but laugh, "it's not locked."

She opened the door slowly and found him standing in the bathroom with a toothbrush in his hand. "Did you just get up?"

He gestured to his attire-clearly sleepwear-and answered, "Obviously."

"Okay, first of all, it's one in the afternoon. Second of all-there's no need for this attitude. I'm not Fury and I'm not looking at you under a microscope. I don't think anyone is."

He threw the toothbrush back into its holder. "_First of all_, you literally _just_ criticized me for sleeping in late. Explain to me exactly how you're not looking at me under a microscope."

She stepped into the room and closed the door. "I'm not, I'm merely concerned. You've been acting-"

"I don't want to discuss my actions with you, if that's quite alright. And why do we need to be there to send off Thor, anyway?"

"We need to be there in case anything goes wrong, this was explained to us yesterday. Come on, let's go. Get dressed."

He plopped down on the couch and searched for the TV remote. "I'm not going. You all feel free to have loads and loads of fun without me."

"What am I supposed to say to Fury?"

"Send him up here," Barton quipped without making eye contact, "I've got a few choice words for him, anyway."

_Elsewhere_

The night had gone by awkwardly. Eve had wrapped herself in the towel and stormed out, slamming the bedroom door and shouting for Loki to just wait a minute while she got dressed. When she let him in, now clad in night clothes that covered up more skin, he made a passing comment about how she was "suddenly modest." They went back to bed and actually slept until late morning.

Though only eleven o'clock, Eve was already anxious and waiting for Sam to show up. She wanted to sit by the front window and stare outside, but she had to pretend to go about her business as usual. Which, since her job exploded, consisted of laundry and TV.

While eating breakfast, Loki suddenly asked her, "How do you make money?"

"Well, I used to work in an office. I did simple data entry."

"Used to?"

"I worked in the city. When those things invaded, they kinda blew up my building. Not the _entire_ building, but definitely that floor and everything above it."

"The city? New York City?" She nodded, much to his dismay. He at least thought he had ported a territory or two over. To be just outside the city where Thor and his many powerful associates resided was certainly problematic. He hid his disappointment well and continued. "The Chitauri were-"

"What?" She interrupted him, startled by the foreign word.

"The Chitauri?"

"That's what those alien things were called?"

"Yes. Those…" he sighed, "_alien things_."

Eve heard a noise outside by the front door and her head snapped to it instinctively. She calmly looked back at her food and hoped he didn't notice how twitchy she was being. Her plan had been to avoid suspicion so that he wouldn't feel a need to read her mind, but she was obviously terrible at keeping secrets. She kept her eyes on her plate and prayed.

"What is wrong with you?" Loki narrowed his eyes at her as she looked up slowly. "You're staring at your meal as though it were a work of art."

"Well, I am a very good cook," she laughed lamely then rested her head in her hand, defeated.

"Why did you look toward the door?"

"I thought I heard a noise. Perfectly normal reaction."

"If you have to explain to me that's it's normal-it probably isn't. I'm more concerned with why you look like you've done something shameful."

"My, uh, joke, was shameful."

He raised one eyebrow. "That's true. Yet-"

She had to think of something, _anything_, to throw him off the scent that she was waiting for someone to arrive. "I feel weird that you saw me naked!" She blurted before gathering their dishes and chucking them in the sink.

"I wasn't done," he stated, annoyed.

She grabbed the dish soap from under the sink and squirted way too much onto the dirty plates, all while looking at him. He looked on in amused shock and grabbed an apple from the basket in the center of the island. He walked to the sink, causing her to take a couple steps away from it, and rinsed the fruit off before taking a large bite. He crossed his arms and examined her. Her body language was undoubtedly nervous-and in a different way from the day before. She was scared and embarrassed-it seemed the girl always had a reason to be embarrassed. He took another bite and noted her arms, which had found their way to her hips again. This time, they were there as a defense mechanism, unlike the night before, when they had been there confidently. His thoughts wandered not-so-accidentally to the memory of her bare in front of him.

"What are you doing?" She asked abruptly, nervously.

Shaken back to the current moment, he took another bite of the apple and walked away from her. "Nothing," he replied as he left to sit in the living room. He heard the water from the sink as she washed the few dishes they has used. He set the partly eaten apple down on the table and decided it was time for an experiment. He held his right hand out in front of him and concentrated. He smiled in wicked delight as his fingertips and eventually whole fingers began to disappear. He was regaining his power slowly. He closed his eyes and threw a blanket of protection around the house, something he would be able to supplement as his powers grew. This way, Heimdall and subsequently Odin wouldn't be able to find him, and Odin would not be able to drain his powers any longer.

His celebration was short, as a knock came at the door-followed by a man yelling, "Eve!" Loki sprang up and met her in the kitchen, grabbing her away from the sink by the arm. She dropped the plate she'd been washing and splashed water on them both. He looked down at his newly soaked abdomen and shook his head-there was no time to be annoyed at that.

"Someone is at the door," he whispered harshly. "Someone who knows your name."

Eve glanced behind him to check the clock on the wall. It was before noon-why was he here so early? He'd never checked on her this early before, he usually waited until it would definitely be inappropriate according to society's standards to still be sleeping. She blinked, gained her composure, and lied to the God of Mischief. "I don't know who it could be."

Loki dragged her to the door and had her look out the peep hole to find out. She jumped, startled as Sam knocked heavily again and shouted once more, "Eve!"

"Who is that?" He whispered directly in her ear, sending a swift chill down her spine in one smooth pulse that was over too soon.

"That's my friend Sam," she faked an attempt at a whisper. The words came out loud enough that Sam heard her-as was her intention.

"Eve, I hear you in there!" Sam shouted, causing her to shrug at Loki.

"Guess I have to answer it now," she mused, reaching out for the handle.

"No!" He continued his hushed tones, though this one sounded extra threatening. He put his mouth right up to her ear again. "Tell him you need a minute."

"Just a minute!" She exclaimed, her voice cracking due to nerves.

"You will tell him that you have a gentleman caller over and that he cannot stay," Loki instructed, "and if you say _anything _apart from that, I will end both of your lives. I will cut off his legs and beat you both to death with them."

She turned her head towards his, looking disgusted. "That's an unnecessary level of violence, I think," she commented.

"I just want to make it perfectly clear that your death will not be painless if you do anything other than what I've asked."

She nodded and reached out for the handle again. He hid behind the door as she opened it. "Sam!" She greeted him warmly.

"Eve, you haven't answered any of my messages since last night-" Sam tried to walk in the door without being asked, the way he had a hundred times before. She put a firm hand on his chest and pushed him back outside. "What's going on?"

"I'm gonna level with you here, Sam," she scratched her forearm in nervous shame, "I kind of have a guy over."

The look on his face was one she hoped to never see again. "Oh," he managed to say, though he echoed more disappointment through his newly found slouch than anything else. "Oh," he repeated as he thought on the news again.

"It's nothing serious-" she tried to comfort him, though it soon became apparent that those were _not_ the right words to do so.

He stepped back and glared at her. "No? Good. I'm glad you've found someone to pass the time. Just know that when he's long gone-you're going to really feel the guilt you ought to. I mean for hurting me, making me worry."

"To be fair, Sam, you can wait twenty four hours to hear from me. You don't have to assume I'm in some mortal peril." As the words came out, she winced. She _was_ in mortal peril-and she'd just accused him of being a nut-job for assuming what was true. Now, he may never come back. The statement was something she'd wanted to say to him for a long time, and in any other instance it would have been an appropriate critique of his behavior. Yet, she chose now.

He closed his previously scowling mouth to turn and go. He flipped his car keys around in his hands, trying desperately to burn off the furious energy she'd given him, and swiftly drove away. Eve walked back into the house and slammed the door behind her. She walked to her bedroom and fought back whatever emotions came to the front of her brain. First, regret. Then, annoyance. Last, anger.

Loki followed her, not at all phased by the display. "Was that your lover?" He asked as though it were a joke.

She didn't even turn around no answer him with a loaded, "No."

"Are you sure? He seemed very distraught that-"

"Am I sure?" She whipped around to face him, now. "How would I not be sure?" She shook her hands in front of her in frustration. "I'm going to lay down," she informed him before crawling into the bed and closing her eyes. She felt a weight drop on the other side of the bed and opened them again, flaring her nostrils.

Loki sat next to her, long legs stretched out, with one of her thicker books in his hands. He glanced at her before engrossing himself in the story, not at all concerned with her aggravation, and said, "I'll be right here."


	6. Chapter 6: Let Me Show You

Chapter Six: Let Me Show You

Thor stepped into the chamber and shut the glass door behind him. Looking on, Jane conferred with Erik. "This is definitely, absolutely going to work, right?" She pleaded with him.

"You checked my work more times than I'm comfortable with, given that you _know_ I know what I'm doing. If it doesn't work, you'll be just as shocked as I will be." She watched nervously as he left her to make the final preparations.

Natasha snuck in the back of the group, which consisted of every Avenger plus Jane, Eric and Darcy. Fury noticed her despite her best efforts and strode up to her, long cloak flowing behind him. "He's not coming?" He wondered aloud as he stood next to her, eyes focused ahead of him.

"No, he's not."

"I expected as much."

"You should talk to him," she suggested.

"He needs time to cool off," he rebutted before leaving her again.

Bruce was the next to approach her, and he seemed unable to find the correct words to ask her the same question. She looked his way and spared them both the awkward silence while he figured it out. "No," she said, "he's not coming." Bruce recoiled the tiniest bit.

"Why not?" He prompted.

"I sense he's ashamed of what happened. He lost his cool, he blames himself." She put her hand on her brow as a visor, the sun was shining bright through the windows, as she watched Erik step away from the machine and nod to Fury.

"He shouldn't be ashamed, it was just a fluke, he-"

"You don't have to tell me, Bruce. I've said the same things you're thinking to him a hundred times by now."

Fury cleared his throat and stood in front of the group. "Listen up! Once Thor is gone, we will need to be alert. Eyes and ears open all the time, people. Hopefully he won't be gone long, but if we can find leads before he returns, we'll all be better for it. Erik, if you'd do the honors," he turned to him and nodded, suggesting that he start the machine.

Erik pushed the necessary buttons on the control panel and turned his gaze to Thor, who was swallowed up in a blue flash and then gone. Jane watched anxiously as he checked every monitor twice. "Success!" He shouted, to a round of applause.

Fury shushed them. "Yes, wonderful, very good. Now get to work-all of you!"

_Elsewhere_

When Eve awoke from her nap, Loki was still there-now halfway through the hardcover novel. She stretched and sat up. In response to her stirring, he closed the book and set it aside. "Is that boy going to come back?" He asked her promptly.

She was still rubbing her eyes when the query floated through her ears. "I don't know. He can do what he wants, I suppose. I mean, he only came here because-hey!" She pointed at him accusingly.

"What? I'm listening!" He defended himself prematurely.

"No, not that! What did you do with my cell phone?"

"The vague rectangle with the blinking light?"

"Yes! _That's_ why he came over, I wasn't answering his messages. What did you do with it? If I text him at least sporadically, he won't have a reason to come here. He'll still be annoyed but-"

"No."

She didn't respond right away, expecting there to be more. "Do you want him to come back? Because I bet he will. To apologize or something when he gets no further answers from me. He'll think I'm mad and he won't be wrong. In case you haven't picked up on it, I've been very on edge the past few days. And-let me add-very cooperative!"

"Cooperative?" He leaned into her in astonishment. "At one point, I believe you kneed me in the chest. Cooperative…" he said the word like it didn't have a meaning printed in the dictionary, "you also got up in the middle of the night to _look_ for you vague rectangle-no doubt to call for help!"

"What would you have me do? Lay down and die?"

Loki paused before putting a hand on her cheek tenderly. As each finger made contact, she leaned her face into it, reacting to his touch. Just as his fingertips slipped into her hair, he delivered a harsh, "Yes." She pushed his hand away, disappointed in her inability to perceive his tricks. Of course he wasn't being gentle, of course he wasn't being affectionate. What had she expected him to say? '_My goodness, Eve, you're right, let's go to the police, no hard feelings.'_ Preposterous. Yet, on some deeper level that had taken control of her just then-she had wanted him to say something kind. Usually when a man touches a woman that way, they say something romantic or charming. Instead, he had implied it made no difference to him if she lived or died. Which, she supposed, it didn't. That was invariably true. Still, when Sam put his hand on her face that way the week before, it hadn't felt like that. There was no spark or real desire with Sam. Now, she felt something entirely different. Something she forced herself to ignore.

"You heard me leave last night?"

"Of course I did."

"Why...why didn't you…" she trailed off and avoided his eyes.

He rose from the bed and threw his arms out for a moment, exasperated. "Why do you need to question it? Am I correct to assume that the rest of your question would have been 'why didn't you kill me?' Why on earth ask me that? Why can't you just be grateful that I haven't? Do you _need_ a reason to continue existing?" When she simply sat there pondering his truths, he was forced to turn in on himself in the silence. Why _hadn't_ he just gone and killed her? He could argue that it was easier than finding another place to stay for now-but why make rationalizations in his own head? There was no one up there to judge him for his thought processes or critique him. He hadn't killed her because he didn't want to. He forced himself to leave it at that.

"Fine," she agreed, "thank you, I guess, for sparing me for my foolishness."

He glared at her, annoyed by her suddenly diplomatic words. "But?"

"But...I'm not wrong about Sam. If he doesn't hear from me, he'll resurface."

"Why does he care so much for you?"

"We grew up together. He's like a brother to me."

Loki laughed. "I don't think it's quite like that for him."

"I suppose not. Now, my phone?"

He fetched the device from its hiding spot in the top compartment of her bedroom closet. "Teach me how to use it, I will speak to him for you."

"That's-" she furrowed her brow, sure that Sam would also consider something wrong if her texts read like Shakespeare.

"Better than nothing," he completed the thought for her.

She nodded once and let out a heavy sigh. "Okay, let me show you."

The rest of the day consisted of the most frustrating tutorial she'd ever have to give. For a smart man, it took him a long time to grasp the concept. By the time the sun had set, a text came in and he leaned away from the phone in alarm as it vibrated. He unlocked the screen and was able to successfully reach the conversation. She gave him a mini round of applause that he did not appreciate. "It says...hey, about earlier, and then just three periods."

"Tell him that I'm sorry and that I was just embarrassed."

"Why would you be embarrassed?"

"Just type," she spat.

He began to, and then continued, "Do you mean embarrassed about your one night stand? That's a shame, Eve, you have every right to a healthy sex life."

Her eyes grew wider with each word he said. "I mean, yes, I do."

"This man who is sort of your brother has no right to dictate how you live your life." He thought on his own statement and the parallels it provided to his own life.

Sam had yet to respond, so Eve took the liberty of assuming he would survive off of that for the time being. "I'm going to shower," she told him, which resulted in a blank look from him, "What? I shower at night. I know most people do in the morning, but I used to work overnights and it's just a habit I never shook. Plus, that one I took yesterday didn't really count."

"No-I'm not going to complain about your hygiene efforts. I'll accompany you."

"You'll-you'll-what? No."

"What's the issue? I've already seen you naked."

"That's not how that works. Just because you've seen it doesn't mean you get to anytime you like." She reiterated, "No. Just, no."

"I'm not asking to physically be in the shower with you. Just in the room. And I do need to shower as well, and you'll have to stay in there while I do. I can't lose sight of you. It's either this or neither of us shower until I'm gone. Of course, there is a third option…"

"Does it involve you beating my to death with one of my own limbs?"

"Potentially," he smirked.

"Whatever. I'm going first." She grabbed a couple towels from the linen cupboard and dragged them behind her as they walked to the bathroom. She shut the door cautiously behind them. There was really not enough room for both of them. "Close your eyes," she commanded.

He obliged immediately, taken aback by how forceful she was about it. "You know," he commented as she undressed, "you truly have nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to your body."

She double checked to make sure his eyes were still closed. "Thank you?" She took a moment to admire herself in the mirror. She was admittedly fit with soft curves and broad shoulders. Her hair hung to her shoulder blades, straight as an arrow. Her attention turned to him now, standing still and obliging her request for privacy without much fuss. He was undeniably handsome, with sharp features and silky black hair. His figure was obviously strong but an understated strong. When he asked her, "Why is this taking you so long?" she had moved close enough to him that she could reach out and touch him. His words shook her out of it and she shuffled to turn the water on.

When she hopped in, Loki opened his eyes. Why had she come so close to him? Why didn't he object? Why did he agree to her request for privacy? He caught sight of her figure's outline through the shower door as she lathered shampoo into her hair, and experienced another flashback to when she'd stood proudly before him. She had _taunted_ him, even, and caught him off guard in more than one way with her actions. _I don't hate her,_ he thought, and closed his eyes again.

A/N:

Writing slow buildups like this one is pretty challenging for me. We all know what we _want_ them to be doing, haha. The payoff is always better this way, though. I would love, love, love to know what people are thinking about the story so far! Even if you hate it XD Tell me what you like, don't like, what you'd like to see, what you think would be fun or funny. Make predictions, I wonder where you guys think this is going. I just started the story three days ago and it's just been pouring out of me-good thing I set up an outline for it. Review and motivate me! Thanks so much for reading :D


	7. Chapter 7: Favorite Toy

Chapter Seven: Favorite Toy

Darcy just happened to be walking past the lab when she caught sight of a certain brunette beauty laying perfectly still on one of the counters. She burst in and rushed over to her friend slash boss, who sat up immediately in alarm. "Darcy, what is it? Is Thor back? Where is he?" Jane asked at the speed of light.

"Whoa, hold up," Darcy backed up a few steps, "I thought you were dead or something. Why are you still in here?"

Jane sighed and readjusted herself, dangling her legs off of the edge and leaning back on her arms. "He's not back yet?"

Darcy shared a meaningful look with the wall clock. "You know that was just this morning, right?"

"Yes-I know. But he was just supposed to go there, find out where Loki was, and come right back!"

Darcy hopped up onto the ledge and put her arm around her colleague. "I know what the plan was. Jane, if there's something you and I know better than almost anyone else, it's that things don't always go according to plan. In fact, they never do. I would be in more shock and awe if everything went as it should for once instead of getting all messed up in the middle. Erik said the machine worked. You have to trust a little more."

Jane bit her lip and looked up at the ceiling, uneasy tears plaguing her eyes. "I only got to see him for one night."

Darcy brought her other arm around to embrace her, squeezed and leaned her head on Jane's shoulder. "He'll be back."

"But-" Jane blurt with a catch in her throat.

"But nothing! He'll be back."

"What do I do in the meantime?"

"Come have a drink with me. Now. Let me point out that he probably won't appear right back in this room, and that SHIELD will call us _both_ up when he's spotted." Darcy dislodged herself and pulled on Jane's wrists until she eventually gave in and walked by her side. As they moved to leave the lab, Jane took a moment to stare into the empty room and sigh anxiously before Darcy pulled her away.

_Elsewhere_

Eve stayed in the shower for longer than she normally would. After cleaning herself, she simply stood and leaned against the tile as the lukewarm water streamed out onto her skin. She examined her fingertips and murmured to herself at the sight of the raised, pruny wrinkles that coated them now. "I'm getting out," she communicated evenly, a false advertisement for the back-flips her stomach was doing.

"About time," Loki groaned. The door slid open and he had to concentrate to keep his lids glued together.

"Okay," she spoke meekly, and when he opened his eyes she was holding a towel in front of her, wet hair pulled off to one side and trickling down over her collarbone. He ripped his eyes away as they switched places and she closed her eyes. He undressed and found it hard not to look at her. Though all he had a clear sight of was the better part of her legs, he admired the smooth way they arced in and out. When his gaze made its way to the line between the towel and her upper thighs, he felt a definite brand of dismay. He allowed himself a moment to absorb the image of her shoulders, neck and chin, but stopped himself before admiring her face. He threw his clothes to the ground and stepped into the water, rather annoyed with himself. Out of sheer boredom, he had developed a minor fascination with this inconsequential mortal. He scrubbed his skin, trying to wash the very notion out of his pores. It was something to pass the time, something to think on. In any case, he knew where his mind needed to be focussed, and it was definitely _not_ meant for that girl.

Eve opened her eyes for a split second just to find the toilet, flip the lid down and sit on the fuzzy fabric that covered it. She moved her head back to look ahead of her, completely prepared to shut them again. However, she found herself peering attentively at the shadow that stretched along the only barrier between the two of them. What she saw was an echo, a mere blueprint of what she would see if he stepped out. She looked on for longer than she ought to have allowed herself to and her mind wandered to thoughts of what would happen if she-

"I'm finished," Loki stated abruptly.

-sat there quietly with her eyes closed. She berated herself internally, humiliated at where her thoughts had almost gone. Unfortunately, the moments she spent punishing herself were enough time for her house guest to exit the shower gracefully and catch her with her eyes open. She blinked and moved her irises to his face, which had a satisfied grin on it. She jammed her lids together and tried her very best to forget that knowing look.

They got dressed in her bedroom, turning and closing their eyes the same way they had before. When they were done, that same cocky look was permanently sewn onto his devilish lips. She chose to ignore it-a pointless choice, really, it soon became all she could think about. She brushed her hair furiously, ripping at knots and grumbling all the while.

He approached her from behind and took the brush from her hands, their fingers brushed for a second and she inhaled sharply. "Take a break," he chuckled as he took the bristles to his own hair, "before you really hurt yourself." He finished up and handed it back to her. His head turned as her 'vague rectangle' vibrated on the bedside table. He walked over to it eagerly and checked the messages-all from Sam. "He's sent you an essay," he proclaimed, causing Eve to groan for the four thousandth time in the past two days. He plopped down on the bed and began to read.

"What does it say?" He flicked through the messages and laughed to himself, not sharing any information with her. "Come on, what does it say?" The God merely continued reading and laughing, laughing and reading. "Is it really that long? Come on-"

"This man really, _really_ cares about what you think of him," he mused in between chortles before starting to type a response.

"What are you saying?" Still no reply. "Loki!" She shouted in agitation before running to jump on the bed to peer over his shoulder. He made brief eye contact with her, torn out of the moment by the first time his name had passed through her lips. He leaned away, tilting the screen out of her sight, hit send and smiled the most genuinely happy smile she'd ever seen on his face. She sat back, honestly in awe of this, suddenly no longer concerned what he'd sent to Sam.

The moment broke apart when the phone went off again. "Oh, he is not amused," Loki stared at the screen and grimaced. Eve attempted to snatch the phone from him to no avail. The phone buzzed again, and then again. "He wants to speak to you, he says you should call him."

"See? Look what you did."

"I only said one thing, Eve, I doubt _one phrase_ has ruined your relationship with this pathetic creature."

"He's not pathetic!" This came out louder than she'd planned.

"You insist he is not your lover and yet you defend him? How do his actions merit a defense? He wants more than you are willing to give him. A real man would move on, find another senseless shrew to woo."

She backed up off the bed and ran her fingers through her damp hair. "Senseless shrew?" He made no effort to extinguish her anger. "You don't know me in the slightest. If you did, maybe you'd see why a man would want to be with me so badly. I have been good to him-"

He glanced at the paragraphs on the screen and then back to her, providing an insensitive shrug coupled with an equally insensitive look. "Maybe, but not in the way he'd like you to."

"Fine," she bit at him, teeth clenched, "I guess with one look you know the situation better than either of us do."

He stood to mirror her and cocked his head confidently to the side. "Let me see if I've got this right, and we can put an end to this argument right now. That boy has always loved you, since the moment your feet touched the ground. He's always looked at you the way a child looks at its favorite toy. He's spent countless hours courting you, and you, the strong, independent woman you are," he said those particular words with a gruesome sarcasm that hit her right in the chest, "informed him that he would never be your one and only. This was of course for his own benefit. This way, he could move on, find someone else-I'll omit the 'senseless shrew' remark here to spare your oh-so delicate feelings." He walked around the bed, their eyes locked for every moment, until he was holding her forearms and speaking to her closely. The next section, he almost whispered. "Yet, given the choice, you would have him pine for you forever. This boy makes you feel significant, wanted, needed, loved and all those things you need to feel to go on. You consider him your property. So no matter how many times you've told him, you've always coated it in a savory syrup he could digest with ease. You just want him to hang onto this dream, as your fallback, forever."

When he was finally finished, she was crying. Not sobbing hysterically, not making any noise at all. The tears had escaped her eyes without her permission, desperate to get away from the wicked, black inside of her. He was right.

He placed a steady hand on her left cheek and wiped a tear away from her eye with his thumb as it came careening down. All she could do was stare, mouth agape, as he placed the thumb at his lips and sucked the salty liquid off of it, smiling all the while.


	8. Chapter 8: Lie To Me

Chapter Eight: Lie To Me

Tony was sharing a tender moment with Pepper when the call came in.

Natasha was outside Barton's door, seconds from knocking, when both of their phones went off.

Bruce was showing Steve an array of movies he'd missed during his slumber. The ringing interrupted _Die Hard_.

Jane jumped up from the bar so fast that she ran out without paying. Darcy sighed and reached for her wallet. She threw every bill she had stashed in there under her glass, muttered something about Jane owing her big time and dashed out after her drinking buddy.

Thor sat with Fury, arms crossed across his broad chest. They waited for the others to arrive. Natasha and Barton were the first, followed shortly by Tony, Steve and Bruce. It was two awkward moments before anyone spoke. "Well?" Tony prompted. "I was _right_ in the middle of something," he responded to their glares.

"Jane isn't here yet," Thor's voice was shallow and impatient.

"And?" Thor looked about ready to drop him off the building. "Hey! I'm just saying, she's not gonna be the one activating her thrusters to go get our little problem child. We can fill her in later."

"Heimdall couldn't locate him," Thor sounded completely at a loss, utterly defeated.

"What? What does that mean?" Steve exclaimed.

"It means we don't know where he is," Barton snapped before excusing himself.

Natasha tried to stop him, but he rejected her without even looking her way. She turned back to the group, feeling scorned, and ignored whatever feelings his actions brought up in her entirely. "What do we do now?"

"With no leads, we'll have to go in blind," Fury instructed.

"You mean just...wander house to house?" Bruce sighed incredulously.

Tony made no effort to disguise his blatant delight at the idea. "Yes, hello, I'm your friendly neighborhood Iron Man-are you harboring a known psychopath, by chance?" He laughed until he held his sides.

"I would appreciate if you would treat this matter with slightly more seriousness than you are. In fact, a shit ton more seriousness. Who knows what that freak is up to?" Fury barked.

"Maybe he's dead," Bruce offered, "and that's why he can't be found. Maybe he teleported into oncoming traffic or something."

The unproductive group discussion halted as they heard heels clicking quickly down the hall. Jane slid into the room, nearly falling. She was followed closely by Darcy, who was panting and holding her chest. Steve reached out instinctively to steady her. She looked to the Captain and offered him a smooth, "Sup?"

Jane, however, had been staring at Thor since her eyes locked with his. She frowned, realizing the news without having to hear it. The look on his face told her everything she needed to know.

_Elsewhere_

Eve threw caution to the wind. Even though Loki may have been correct in assuming what her relationship was with Sam, how could he look down on her for it? He had done awful things, and her actions paled in comparison. They weren't even on the same grid. So when she acted, she was fueled by spite and malice. She lifted her right hand and wiped the tears from that cheek with her own thumb. She then offered her digit to him, holding it close to his lips with an eerie steadiness. He licked his lips and smirked before leaning forward a bit to lick off the tears he'd caused in one slow motion. She waited for his eyes to flicker shut in strange satisfaction. And then she punched him in the face.

He fell back with a clamor and she managed to grab her phone from his clutch as he went. She sprinted to the bathroom and locked the door. She clicked Sam's speed dial icon on her homescreen and started on opening her bathroom window, prepared to climb out and run like hell.

"Hey," Sam answered, sounding guilty and glad.

"Sam!" She shouted, tears welling up in her eyes, adrenaline flooding every drop of blood inside her.

"Listen, I-" He began, no doubt on the verge of some apology he didn't need to be making.

"No, no, Sam, you listen. I don't have much time," she threw the window open and stood on the tub's rim to get better leverage to dislodge the screen. She checked behind her, and it seemed Loki wasn't even messing with the door yet.

"Eve, I really need to say-"

"Sam! Shut up! Let me speak! I'm in danger-" she gagged in reaction to the hand on her throat.

In her right ear, Loki whispered, "Your emotions will be the death of you."

In her left ear, Sam was losing his mind. "Eve? Eve!? I can hear you breathing-what's wrong?"

Right ear, "Tell the boy you've been depressed since you lost your job."

Left ear, "Talk to me, or I'm assuming something's really wrong. I swear to god, I'll call the police!"

"S-Sam," she stuttered, scared near to death.

Left ear, "Yes, I'm here. Eve-what's wrong?"

"I'm in danger of slipping into a negative spiral." The frantic tears pouring down her face must have provided a realness to this lie that she could have never managed without assistance.

Right ear, "That's my girl."

Left ear, "Why?"

"I've, uh, I'm just really shaken by what happened."

"Our fight?"

"No, not that. That was h-hardly a fight. Remember homecoming sophomore year?" She forced a laugh, usually tickled by the memory. It felt dirty to use it to mislead and distract her oldest friend.

Sam chuckled pitifully into the phone. "Been trying to forget about that since the moment it happened."

"I'm talking about when the Chitauri-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sam cut her off.

"What? It's what those-"

"_I_ know that. Why do _you_ know that? That information is classified."

Eve twisted her face up in confusion. "Classified? Who do you work for, the FBI?"

"Not quite," he answered completely seriously. "I need to know where you heard that word."

"Musta heard it on the news," she bluffed.

"Come on, tell me the truth."

"That's a large request coming from someone who definitely isn't telling me everything."

Sam sighed. "Fine. But you tell _no one_ about this, got it?"

"Whatever you say," she prompted.

"I work for an espionage agency known as SHIELD."

Loki gripped her throat a little tighter in annoyance. "Of _course_ he does. Of _course._"

"Now," Sam continued, "you wouldn't have heard that word on the news. I need you to think hard and remember where you heard it. Have you been out at all since?"

"No," she answered truthfully.

"Then the only logical conclusion is that you heard it from that new guy you've been seeing. How much do you know about him, anyway?"

"I guess not a lot," she answered, again, truthfully.

"Listen, I have to call this in to my boss. It'll be my head if I don't. I'll be stopping by tomorrow to see what else we can find out-is your new friend over for the night?"

"Yes he is," she praised Sam for phrasing his questions so she didn't have to lie anymore.

"Tell him I'll be over to do a report. Or, don't, if you think it'll be easier to get some answers out of him. This could help us out a lot, you're a lifesaver."

"Yeah, no problem," she twisted her head a bit to make sure Loki was still awake. She'd expected him to object to this idea profusely.

Sam hung up without saying goodbye, and she attempted to slide the phone into her pocket. Loki grabbed it from her hands and pushed her toward the window. "Close that," he barked, "and be quick about it." She shut it and rubbed her neck, thankful to have a completely clear airway. "Did you know he worked for SHIELD? Did you lie to me?"

She turned to face him. "No, I had no idea, he told me he was a bookkeeper for some law firm." When this seemed to satisfy him, she caught her breath at last. She completely lost control and collapsed, sobbing and blubbering like a spoiled child.

"Shut. Up." He sneered at her. The rage behind his eyes was like nothing she'd ever seen. What she'd done was foolish, desperate and doomed to fail. It was a strange thing, her situation. Growing up, she was taught that the good guy always wins. The prince rescues the princess, the dragon is slain and the kingdom rejoices. Now there was presented to her a clear role: the role of the 'good guy.' Yet with each passing moment it became clearer and clearer that there was no way out of this for her. She took note of the door that remained locked behind him and remembered bitterly that he could teleport.

"I'm sorry," she looked up at him with honest eyes, "I'm sorry I'm too bold for my own good."

"Do not speak to me," he broke eye contact and fiddled with her phone for a moment. "So he'll be here tomorrow to question your bedfellow," he half-stated, half-asked. She nodded in response. "I can make this work," he reflected, clearly swimming in a deep pool of thought, "and then when it's over, we'll have a calm discussion about what happened here." Eve was perfectly still, taken aback by the notion that had left his mouth. He drank in her puzzled stance before finishing his thought. "It'll be hard for you to argue with me when your tongue's been ripped out."

A/N:

Just want to let you know that I'll provide warnings at the beginning of any chapters coming up that contain serious violence or sexual content. So you don't have to worry you're gonna come across something you're not comfortable with. And as always, reviews are love :)


	9. Chapter 9: Close Your Eyes

Chapter Nine: Close Your Eyes

When Barton opened his door, he wasn't sure what he'd expected. Natasha had been dropping by on false pretenses every couple hours for the past few days. He waited patiently for her excuse this time. She didn't speak and didn't look like she had any intention to. She breezed past him and settled down on his couch without a word.

"Come on in, Nat," he said to the hallway before closing his door. He sat down next to her and raised his eyebrows. "What, no interrogation? You don't want to know how I'm holding up, how I'm feeling?" She didn't even meet his gaze. Her eyes were fixed on the television, fully engrossed in an ad for a knife that would stay sharp forever. "Oh, I see," he went on, "you came over to hang out, because we're buddies." She granted him one brief look and half-smile before returning her attention to the commercial. "This isn't going to work," he breathed heavily, "this cold shoulder bull shit. You think if you sit there all disinterested and calm that I'll get this sudden urge to pour my damaged guts out to you. Well, tough. You're getting nothing from me in the way of confessions."

Suddenly, it landed. The straw the broke the widow's back. "Why do you think it's all about you?" She shouted suddenly, dozens of emotions and sub-emotions bubbling to her creamy, peach surface. "Loki told me he would have you kill me, and then kill you himself. I thought maybe I'd never have you back. And now here you are," she looked at him now meaningfully, putting her hand in his and shaking it for emphasis, "and you won't speak to me."

"Nat-" he began, but there were no other words behind it.

"I already know what you're feeling. You're not some enigma, impossible to crack. You're feeling what _anyone_ would in your situation. I don't care about any of it. If you want to talk, great. If you don't, that's fine. I'm not trying to work you like a mark, I'm not trying to feel around for intel. I just...want…" she was close to really losing it. She _never_ lost it.

He pulled her arm until she was within his reach and placed his free hand on her neck. When he kissed her it was electric, and she met him with sweet eagerness. Her hands climbed quickly to his neck and she clung to him like he was all she'd ever needed.

The knock at the door stung them both, throwing them apart like opposing magnets. "Agent Barton!" Fury's unwelcome voice sounded from outside.

"Whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow," he whispered to her and beckoned her back in.

She hesitated. "This will only take a moment," Fury went on, "and I'm not leaving."

Barton scowled and got up to appease him. He opened the door and made ferocious eye contact. "What?" He spat.

"Is she here?" Fury asked.

"That all depends on which _she_ you're referring to."

Fury pushed the door open the rest of the way and made eye contact with Natasha. "May I speak to you for a quick moment?" She stood and met him in the hall, rolling her eyes when Barton slammed the door and left them alone.

"Got a call, some nobody throwing the word 'Chitauri' around. I want you to accompany the agent who heard this to her home. I can't risk him missing something. Eight o'clock sharp you're to meet him there, understood? I'll make sure you have all the info you need before the night is out."

"Yes, sir," she agreed as he turned to leave. "I apologize," she added, "for not being in my room. I hope it didn't take you long to find me."

Fury turned his head to look back at her, but continued walking. "Not a problem, Agent Romanov. I didn't bother going to your room, I came here first."

_Elsewhere_

Eve was asleep. She'd quickly mastered the art of balancing on the edge of the bed. Tonight she felt as though she had a _Get Out of Jail Free_ card, considering Loki needed her alive for their morning meeting with the _very_ people he'd been trying to avoid. Sam had sent her a text to confirm the time, eight thirty, and she'd suggested getting some sleep so they could be on their toes. Her little outburst seemed fuel enough for a swift and painless transition to slumber.

Loki, however, could not sleep. He rested on his side facing Eve, closer to the center of the bed than his designated section. He massaged his left cheek where she'd struck him and winced. The blow had _hurt_. He recalled laying on the ground for a moment too long in shock before regaining his composure. If things kept up in this fashion, he'd be here forever. He was constantly having to waste his stored magic on supplementing the protection spell and various necessities like teleporting to retrieve his spirited hostage. When he thought of the events unfolding, he was surprised to find himself impressed. The way she had mimicked him, offering her tears to him with such assuredness. She had performed well. Her face reflected none of her ulterior motives, her eyes even sent out a wave of confident submission, as though she were glad to give herself to him. His shock after she'd jabbed him was partly directed at himself. He should have known, being the king of deception, yet his judgement was clouded by something frightening-a desire for the lie she'd presented to be true.

The next morning, they woke to the alarm clock buzzing. They scrambled around, trying to avoid one another while always being in the same room going about their morning routines. When they were done, she couldn't help but notice he'd been working to make himself look presentable. He caught her staring as he fussed with his hair and moved to stand in front of her. As she looked on, he transformed into a completely different man. Still handsome, though blond and a bit more muscular, he presented himself to her. "What do you think?" He winked and smiled wide, teeth included.

All she could think was _I prefer the original_. Thanks to some well-timed self control, she avoided vocalizing this. "You look nice," she praised, anxious to earn back any ground she'd lost with him.

"Good," he nodded and came close to her. He placed his middle fingers in between her temples and her eyes, causing her to tremble. "Close your eyes, if you're nervous," he instructed with an unfamiliar tenderness and she did. Then it was as though a flash of light crossed her brain, left to right, in one smooth wave. When she opened her eyes, Loki was staring right into them-and he looked like himself. She got lost in the close-up view of his crystal blue irises, losing all sense of her surroundings. "What do you see?" He asked plainly.

"I see you," she breathed, not wanting to disturb her own thoughts as they wandered to not-so-safe places.

"Perfect!" He clapped, drawing her back into reality, and moved away. "This way, you'll be able to see my true form, and they won't. I am a _very_ skilled actor, and I didn't want you to forget who you were dealing with or suddenly get comfortable. Strange things happen when you get comfortable."

The doorbell rang, and Eve's eyes darted to the alarm clock. "It's only eight," she blurted.

"That must be some interrogation tactic. Well, we're ready, so let's not keep them waiting," he encouraged her to leave the room, then grabbed her wrist to pull her back in momentarily, "and _no_ funny business."

She nodded and led the way to the door. As she opened it, Sam led his curvaceous colleague into the living room behind him, much to Eve's alarm. "Hey," she stated uneasily.

"Eve," Sam nodded, all business, "this is Natasha, she will be assisting me today."

Natasha looked at him and smiled. "Sam, while we are here on official business, there's no need to behave so formally. You said this was a friend of yours, correct?" She reached out and shook Eve's hand. "It's lovely to meet you."

"You as well," Eve beamed through the fakest smile she'd ever forced. Who was this busty vixen and why was she so casual with Sam?

Loki locked eyes with the redhead and frowned. Were they so far off his scent that they were sending their biggest players to investigate small leads? Granted, this was a _huge_ potential lead if they could find it. He moved his attention to Sam, who was already staring at him.

"This must be…" Sam trailed off, approaching Loki for a handshake.

"Graham," Loki announced confidently, "it's a pleasure."

Sam broke their handshake and struggled to hide his disdain.

"Let me get you two some chairs," Eve offered, "I would have had it all set up, but you guys were a tad early, so…" she fetched a couple of fold-out chairs with padded seats from the broom closet by the door and set them up on the other side of the coffee table. She took her place on the couch and Loki sat right beside her, their thighs touching. Every time she looked to Sam, his eyes were fixed on "Graham," sizing him up and scowling.

Natasha handed him a pen and notepad and whispered something in his ear, to which he nodded. "Should we get started?" She asked politely.

"Yes, let's," Loki chimed in agreeably. He looked at Eve as though excited about the questions to come. _It's all part of the act,_ she thought.

"Let's start with your official names for the record," Sam stated as he poised his pen above the pad.

"With all due respect," Loki raised one cautious finger, "seeing as we've done nothing wrong, I don't want my name on some suspect list. If it's okay with you, I'd like to proceed with no last names. I know you already know Eve's, seeing as you're old friends," the word _friends_ seemed to agitate Sam, "but maybe you could keep it to yourself? We have a right to our privacy, and we are happy to cooperate otherwise." Loki smiled at her affectionately and then back at their interviewers. _It's all part of the act, _she reminded herself again, swallowing whatever pleasant feelings echoed in her from his mock endearment.

Sam sat forward a bit, ready to protest when Natasha jumped in. "It's okay," she assured him, "he's right, they're not being interrogated. First names will do just fine for our records."

"Thank you, Natasha," Loki looked at Eve again-this time with a gentleness it was hard to doubt. He took her hand in his, interlocking their fingers and resting them on his thigh. _It's all part of the act, _she repeated with some difficulty, her mind clouded by the sensation of his cool skin on hers. _It's all part of the act_, once more for good measure. _It's all..._he squeezed her hand playfully, in a way the others couldn't see, and she abandoned her mantra, aching to believe.

A/N:

Fun fact! How I got to naming his alter-ego "Graham." Loki is an anagram of kilo which is short for kilogram...drop the kilo and voila! It was nice that particular train of thought went smoothly, I usually take far too long to name characters.

Anyway, this chapter is mostly setting up for the next installment. I'm considering omitting an Avengers segment at the beginning so I can keep the next chapter at about the same length as the others have been, between 1700 and 2000 words. But that's up for debate. I think I have a lot of material to get through but sometimes I think that and it comes up short anyway. We'll see :) Thanks for reading as always!


	10. Chapter 10: Please

Chapter Ten: Please

Barton loitered outside Natasha's door, lazily trying to muster up the courage to knock. After Fury called her into the hallway the night before, she never came back, not even to say goodnight. He had slept in short spurts, at times thankful he was obsessing over a pleasant memory rather than his usual routine as of late.

When he finally raised his fist, Fury turned into the hallway. "Nice to see you out and about," he joked stoically as he passed by. Barton clenched his teeth, sick of that man's flawless ability to pop up when it was _most_ frustrating. Without even turning to look at him, his director spoke coolly. "She's not here."

_Elsewhere_

Loki felt Eve's hand relax in his and stole a glance at her. She was fighting back a smile. _That's it_, he thought, _sink into your delusions_. He just needed her to be calm and collected for this one thing-and then she was no longer a necessity. Her actions from the previous day could not be forgiven, and she would pay for them. It would be too easy to make her believe she was safe, but he saw now that it was the approach he should have taken all along. She was clearly longing to feel a closeness with someone, whether it be because of the state of her mother or her borderline pointless relationship with that...he looked at Sam. He was a useless, pathetic and weak being. For his amusement, he would break them both.

"How long have you two known each other?" Natasha asked as though provoked by her own curiosity. Loki made confident eye contact with her, knowing that any questions coming out of her mouth were part of the interview.

"We met a few months ago through a mutual friend," Loki smiled professionally through every word, "it wasn't until recently that we saw it fit to pursue a romantic relationship." Eve giggled convincingly at this.

"What mutual friend?" Sam barked, overeager.

"You don't know her," Eve appeased him, "her name is Julie."

"I've never heard you talk about a _Julie_ before."

Loki laughed. The boy was already cracking. "Why would she lie about such a thing?" He planned to poke and prod at whatever little confidence rested in Sam until every ounce of hope was consumed by something black. A negative, toxic sludge to eat at him from the inside out. "Why would she lie to you?"

"I wouldn't," Eve interjected, sounding legitimately hurt.

"You know what else the Eve I know wouldn't do? Hook up with some random-" Natasha cleared her throat and leaned forward to catch Sam's vision. She widened her eyes at him and pursed her lips, begging him to reel it in. He didn't finish his thought, but he didn't particularly need to.

Loki squeezed Eve's hand once more. The action seemed to draw her back into the moment, pulling her from thoughts he couldn't waste energy to read. When her eyes met Sam's after his brash statement, there was a ferocity behind them that he rather admired. Despite himself, his classic wicked smirk spread across his lips.

"Things seem to be going well," Natasha tried to cut the tension by gesturing toward their interlocked hands.

"Oh, yes," Loki grinned and brought Eve's hand up to his lips to kiss it softly. Her heart fluttered in the way it would be expected to, had the intention been pure. She managed to smile at Natasha and chuckle, becoming dizzy from her own internal debate. He was just putting on a show for them, a very convincing one at that, and she was falling for it too.

"That's wonderful," Natasha remarked before moving on. "We're not in the business of wasting people's time, so if it's okay with you I'm going to get right into it."

"Yes, please do," Eve encouraged her.

"Our only real question revolves around something very simple," Natasha began, "the use of one word-Chitauri. This isn't the type of word that should be on any household tongues. We are in the business of dealing with the sorts of happenings that your local police force may not be equipped to handle. This includes the attack on the city a few days ago. That was us that cleaned everything up in a timely manner, to avoid unnecessary panic."

"With all due respect, everyone saw what happened," Eve commented, "even if the threat is neutralized, so to speak, what if there are more? Shouldn't you be the people answering _our_ questions?"

"That's fair. I'm going to level with you. A lot of things we encounter aren't explainable yet. We have limited knowledge-we don't even know what questions to be asking at times. We get by, we save the day-but in the meantime it's not our job to make sure the public is informed. It's our job to make sure the public is safe. May I move on?"

Eve nodded. She didn't know enough about the topic to be arguing with an expert.

"All we need to know is where you heard the word Chitauri," Sam interjected.

"Eve told me you nearly lost your mind when she used the word on the phone!" Loki laughed. "Didn't realize it was so serious."

"Well," Eve looked at him, trying too hard to hide her consternation, "tell them where you heard it. Tell them just what you told me last night." There were a lot of ways this whole thing could go completely wrong. She wanted to appease them and then spend her time appeasing Loki until he left. No more outbursts, no more acting first and thinking later.

"I heard someone use it while we were out two nights ago, just a stranger in a bar. I thought it sounded completely terrific when he said it and have just been using it to refer to those aliens ever since. I didn't realize it would result in such a debacle."

Sam rolled his eyes so hard that he looked apt to lost his balance and slide off the chair.

"_What?_" Eve snipped in his direction.

"It's just," Sam searched for the proper words, "it's a pretty lame story."

"Lame, huh? What did you expect, some epic poem about how he had to blow a guy in a back alley to learn the word?"

Loki tried to hold back, but his laughter boiled over. He looked to Eve, who was being completely serious, and gave her a look of baffled amusement. "Epic poem?" He repeated, far more enthralled by the statement than anyone else seemed to be. "About oral sex?"

Eve struggled to maintain her genuine rage at Sam-who was, indeed, being unreasonable. Yet the sight of Loki truly enjoying himself overpowered her and soon she was laughing as well. "I'm sorry," she turned to Natasha, biting back an onslaught of giggles, "this is very unprofessional."

"That's quite alright," Natasha chuckled politely. "Just be sure you're not leaving anything out. If you did know the man who said it, it would help us immensely."

"No," Loki affirmed, "I did not know him. He seemed rather drunk in any case, no one was listening to him. I doubt anyone else absorbed his statement."

"If you remember anything, please contact Sam and let him know. If that's truly all, we'll be on our way," Natasha stood and beckoned Sam to join her.

Sam stood with her but leaned to whisper too loudly in her ear. "I don't think we're done here."

"We are for now," Natasha answered him and attempted to douse his concerns with experienced eyes.

Loki stared at the boy who was so desperate to find flaws in him. His face resembled that of a man who felt discouraged, as though all had been taken from him. Still, he saw deep inside his young frown and the gentle curl at the edges of his lips, the will of a man not yet broken. "You seem keen to accuse me of something," he stood as he spoke.

"If I can be candid," Sam's words came out with caution at first, "there's just something about this setup that doesn't sit right with me, in the pit of my stomach. Eve tells me _everything_. And since you've been around, she'd been distant and, well," his eyes met Eve's, "cold."

Eve was hit by a heavy wall of emotion. She thought to stand with them but couldn't bring herself to. She wanted more than anything to tell him everything, and she would, when it was all over. She just had to live to tell the tale, as she had been.

"Have you considered," Loki started in on him, "that she wants some space from you?"

Sam's eyes snapped back to his. "I had not considered that, because that thought is obnoxious, preposterous and any other synonyms you can think of."

"Absurd? Unthinkable? Excessive?" Loki rattled off.

"Yes, those and all the others."

"Strange. Those are the words I'd use to describe your immediate dislike of me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a thing for Eve here."

Eve's eyes grew wide and she found the strength to stand. She locked her arm into Loki's and stood on her tiptoes to speak directly into his ear. All she could think to say was, "Please," and force her tone to convey her despair. Natasha stood idly by, waiting for everything to blow over-and maybe hoping the emotional outburst would reveal something more.

Sam drank in the sight of them arm in arm and his face fell, the way it had days ago, and the week before. He walked over to Eve and sighed. He was more forlorn than she had ever seen him. "Eve," he whispered, and he sounded broken, "you would never lie to me, right?"

Loki broke his arm away from hers and moved to get a better view of her face. The way she looked at Sam disgusted him to his very core. It twisted up his stomach and heated his chest. She _loved_ him. No, not in the way he wanted. But she did. That fact alone was enough to spark something in him he'd long thought dead. Before Eve could answer, he moved Sam away from her with a firm hand. Then he took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply.

Eve had no time to react. Her body molded into his intuitively, ready to act in whatever play he was putting on.

Natasha pulled Sam away and nodded her head toward the door. Sam blinked until he realized no amount of it would erase what he'd seen. His heartbeat quickened. He unclenched his fists and let the unbridled sadness cascade through his body in waves. Much like the tide, someday the weight on his chest wouldn't be so heavy.

A/N:

Man oh man. This chapter really fought with me. I'd love to know what you guys think-especially if you see an issue with pacing or anything that simply doesn't sit right with you. This is my first story and I've never really done anything like this, I want it to be as good as it can be and your feedback helps! Oh and let me know if you see typos too. Editing your own work is annoying :P


	11. Chapter 11: Stay Here

Chapter Eleven: Stay Here

Natasha slipped into the driver's seat and waited for her sluggish teammate to get in the car. The second his seat belt was fastened, she pulled swiftly out of the driveway and wasted no time. "Why didn't you tell me this was more than just a friend of yours?"

"It's not...she's not…" Sam failed to explain himself.

"You're lying to me? After what I just saw? Come clean."

"She's a _really_ old friend, I'm just protective."

Natasha turned the car abruptly and precisely, giving the road her attention for just a minute. "I don't buy it." She shook her head.

"What do you want me to say? That I love her? That she doesn't return my feelings? That seeing her kiss that ass hole broke my heart all over again?"

"It's a start," she made no effort to soften her tone. He was hurting, there was no doubt-but there was also no excuse. "You can't let your emotions dictate your actions. In life, sure, roll with with punches. But when you work for SHIELD-"

"I know," Sam wallowed, defeated.

"Let me finish. When you work for SHIELD, you have to check your baggage at the door. I think you _knew_ this was going to be hard for you-and you needed to vocalize that. You can't pretend you're going to be okay if you have even the slightest doubt. When we're partnered up, you share these things. I don't care if you're embarrassed or you think I don't want to know. None of that matters. I have to know what exactly I'm walking into. What happened today was _very_ different from what I was expecting. If you'd told me, I could have found a better angle to-"

"Oh, I see," he interrupted, "so you'd want to use my emotions an an _angle_."

"There you go again. What has this girl done to you that she shakes you up this bad?" She thought back to the other occasions when they'd been partnered up. He was good at what he did, truly.

"Well, I'm sorry for not being an emotionless drone."

"That's not what I'm saying! I'm saying you need to tell me these things, that's all. And yes, leave your feelings out of your work."

"Maybe it's not that simple, did you ever think of that? Put yourself in my shoes, just for a second. Think about it."

She obliged him and imagined it was Barton there kissing some other woman in front of her. She felt a pang of jealousy mixed with anger. Even so, she knew she would be able to handle it if that ridiculous situation ever arose. "You seem determined to miss my point."

"Don't you have anyone you feel so strongly about?" He pryed.

She turned the car swiftly again and sped ahead. "Not on the job."

_Elsewhere_

Loki and Eve both heard the front door shut behind their guests, yet they each hesitated to break the contact. When they pulled apart, the silence was thick and heavy. Eve moved her hands off his chest and placed them at her sides. He took his hands away from her face after admiring her befuddled expression. Her mouth hung partway open and her eyes traced his face, searching for some hint of telling emotion in him.

"I'm starving," she challenged the uncomfortable quiet before retreating to the kitchen. Whatever his plan had been, it had worked. They'd left without saying goodbye. She looked back at him quickly, for just a fraction of a second, and he was standing in the same spot. He seemed to be lost in thought. Thoughts of her? She shook her head indignantly. No, of course not, he had to have been thinking about how the meeting had gone. She opened the refrigerator and searched for supplies to make breakfast. Her train of thought kept getting interrupted by the only thing she wanted on her mind. The way he'd taken charge and showed Sam that their relationship was more real than he'd wanted to believe. Yet, it was all a lie. Oh, and _Sam_. She hung her head, still in front of the open fridge. As much as she wanted to contemplate the consequences of what happened, her mind kept coming back to his lips on hers. The kiss was honestly sensational. Confident and powerful with just the right amount of tenderness. If it wasn't real emotion behind the way he'd touched her, she couldn't fathom how mean spirited he'd have to be inside to fake it like that. Then she recalled who exactly she was dealing with.

Loki sighed and sat down on the couch. Everything had turned out far better than he could have anticipated. As far as he could tell, the widow hadn't suspected anything. That boy had really taken the spotlight from him with his many emotional outbursts. He took a moment to rejoice in this fact, and then let his thoughts wander to what was pressing him the most. What had come over him? There were many ways he could have gotten his point across. He had chosen to kiss his captive. He touched his fingers to his lips. It had been...he struggled to finish the thought. Any enjoyment he felt could be explained by the satisfaction resulting from putting that whiny brat in his place. Still, it had been...no, he'd made the choice based on...well, some form of jealousy. As much as he hated to admit it, he hated the idea of Eve having love for someone else, particularly a man, even more. The thought in itself was ludicrous, as the girl harbored no love for him anyway, and had no right to. As much as he tried to explain the sensation away, what point was there in lying to himself? It had been surprisingly enjoyable. She could never know.

He meandered into the kitchen and sat down at the island. He watched his detainee move confidently around from the stove to the spice rack and back again. She seemed to be in a calm place, maybe brought on by hunger and her desire to solve that problem. When she noticed him, she jumped back and squealed, alarmed. "You walk so quietly," she commented as she caught her breath.

His gut reaction was to apologize to her. He shook the notion out of his brain and added a scowl for good measure. "Yes, well, you ought to be more aware of your surroundings. You startle so easily."

"I'm used to being here alone. Even though I _know_ you're around, my brain isn't used to keeping track of another body, especially one with ninja-like sneakiness."

"In any case, I'd say this morning went well."

"Oh, uh, yes. Yeah. Definitely."

He paused. He'd expected her to be upset with him. She'd pleaded with him not to antagonize her childhood friend, and yet he had, using her to do so. Was it possible she didn't see it that way? If not, then how did she see it? "I think it's safe to say you won't be hearing from that boy anymore," he chuckled. Her lips formed a small "o" shape as though she were about to speak, and froze there as she appeared to lose track of her own thoughts. "Then again, maybe he'll type you another research paper on _The Consequences of Embracing Another Man in Front of Me_."

"Maybe," she seemed to speculate, though her body communicated some brand of disappointment.

Loki watched as she shook it off and returned to her cooking. She was either not as upset as he'd expected or was swallowing it, masking it well. "Imagine what he's feeling," he nudged her again, needing to see that his actions brought about some reaction in her. That way, his own reaction would matter less. He could justify everything if she would just crack.

"I have no doubt he's upset," she remarked, her back to him as she sprinkled salt.

"Just think," he continued, "it'll be worse later, when he's alone. He'll do nothing but think on it, replaying the sight in his head over and _over_. It will be agony for him."

She clicked off the burner and moved the frying pan full of eggs off to the side before breaking down before his eyes. She'd been harboring this crazy thought that he'd kissed her because he'd _wanted_ to. With his words it became clear that it was all a game to him, he'd just wanted to hurt Sam and then her by default. "I get it," she spat between the even breaths that were holding in her tears she didn't want him to see, "he's hurting, I'm hurting, you're the reason why. I get it." She would _not_ cry. She would _not_ give him the satisfaction.

He smiled, but it wasn't genuine. Somewhere deep inside of him, something he'd buried a long time ago was breaking free from its forgotten cell. Remorse? Oh, that just wouldn't do. "That's right," he began, trickling malevolent undertones onto his speech, "you had to know your actions would not go unpunished. I had considered removing your tongue as we'd discussed previously, yet this seemed so much more…" he allowed a brief moment to drink in Eve's vulnerable stance, "personal." She was moments from crumbling, he could taste it. "Physical pain is nothing compared to the way this event will haunt your relationship with him forever-maybe someday ending it."

She took the pan and slammed it onto the table, sliding it toward him with the handle. "I'm not hungry," she contradicted her earlier statement and began to leave the room.

Loki stretched out and grabbed her arm. She hesitated before turning to him. "Well, I am," he stated huskily. Despite her anger, he noticed a softness in her still. She replied to his touch positively, her muscles relaxed and her eyes got this dreamy glaze. He'd just made clear his intentions were to harm her, emotionally, and here she stood gawking at him like she wanted to believe something else. He would have to convince her otherwise, convince her to be afraid again. He pulled her in close and poured the words into her ear with an edge that could cut even the strongest of ties. "I'll need a fork for this."

She broke away from him, startled easily yet again, and fetched him one before trying to shuffle out of the room again. "Oh, no," he spoke sharply, warning her, "you'll stay here." He gestured to the stool across from him and it seemed to come back into her mind that his presence was not a social call. She sat and avoided his glaring eyes, shuddering a bit when he praised her obedience. "Good girl."

A/N:

Another sort of transition chapter, lots of self reflection here. Tons of plot development coming up :D


	12. Chapter 12: Temptress

Chapter Twelve: Temptress

Natasha led Sam into the conference room and was greeted by the concerned looks of all her Avengers comrades, including their various counterparts-minus Pepper. As she pointed to a seat and nodded to Sam to take it, she stood at the head of the table. "So, you've all just been waiting for us to get back?"

"Yeah, and we're really hoping you've got something," Tony uttered, "how many other leads do we have again? Gentlemen?" Darcy leaned forward from her seat to glare at him. "Well, Darcy my dear, do _you_ have any leads?"

She sunk back into her seat and crossed her arms. "I could have leads," she grumbled, "I don't...but I could."

"Moving on," Fury jumped in and gestured to Natasha. "Fill us in."

She put her hand out to Sam and a blankness filled his eyes. He was completely in over his head, completely intimidated by the room he sat in. "Your notepad," she urged and he scrambled to retrieve it from his jacket. Across the table, Tony let out one amused "Ha!"

Natasha turned her attention to Tony, who quickly defended himself. "What?" He asked, then casually added, "Who's the new guy?"

Sam stood to shake Tony's hand. "Agent Barrows, sir."

"Welcome to the big leagues, Agent Barrows," Tony nodded as he shook his hand.

Bruce laughed. "_Big leagues_," he muttered between chuckles.

"_Moving on!_" Fury repeated with substantially more force.

Natasha looked over Sam's notepad, which consisted of only a direct transcript of the conversation. Luckily, that was all she needed. "The man we met there, Graham, claimed he heard the word while out drinking with his girlfriend-" she looked to Sam briefly to make sure the word didn't unleash resentment in him, and continued when he seemed fine, "-a couple nights ago. I couldn't gather much in the time we were there, but I think I got what I need to draw a conclusion. From what Agent Barrows has told me, Eve-the woman who was with him-had never mentioned this man to him before. Graham claimed the two of them met months ago through a mutual friend, again, a friend Agent Barrows has never heard mentioned." She looked over the notes once more. "Graham spoke very formally for a man in his age range. He used phrases such as 'pursue a romantic relationship,' 'absorbed his statement,' and the word 'debacle.' While ordinarily these speech patterns alone cause no reason for alarm, this is no time to ignore a gut feeling."

"You think," Steve interjected, "it could be Loki in disguise?"

"Anything is possible," Natasha responded. "At the very least, I recommend we keep the house under surveillance."

"Sounds doable. Romanov, take Barton with you, set up some bugs," Fury instructed before taking his leave.

For the first time since she got back, she looked at Barton and gave him a small smile. He simply nodded and left, right on Fury's tail. She turned slightly to catch Sam's line of sight, but he was too distracted by all the muscle and tech in the room with him. The advice she'd given him earlier was getting harder and harder for her to take herself.

_Elsewhere_

Loki finished his meal and eyed up Eve, who was slouched over making aggressive eye contact with the floor. She was officially back to sitting still and not speaking. _That was easy_, he thought. "Come on," he coaxed her, "I think I'll finish that book I started." He led her to the bedroom and checked her communication device on the nightstand. No new messages from that pest, thank goodness.

She watched his face as he unlocked her phone. When he smiled lightly and threw it back down to the bedside table, she knew there was nothing there to report. She sighed, not sure what she'd wanted or expected. If Sam messaged her, there were chances it would be negative. Somehow to not hear from him was worse. They had talked every single day without fail until this week, it had to be weird for him too. She settled in, laying on her stomach, hands under her cheek which rested at the foot of the bed and tried to feel better. There was nothing she could have done to prevent any of this. What was she supposed to do, not kiss him back? _And waste a kiss like that..._she thought suddenly, physically shaking her head as though it was an etch-a-sketch.

He picked up the book and opened to the page he'd left off on. Before immersing himself in it, he caught sight of Eve and his eyes lingered there for a moment too long. She looked peaceful, her head turned toward him but focussed aimlessly at his stretched out legs. She looked bored more than anything, and powerless to do anything about it. He mentally traced the curve of her back and the sharp turn at her waist where her hips branched out. She was wearing denim and it clung to her figure closely. He found himself admiring her legs, but his vision kept coming back to-

Eve turned onto her back and readjusted, bending her legs at the knees. She glanced at her captor and caught his eyes focussed near her stomach, maybe a bit lower. Wait, lower? She sat up on her elbows. "What?" she asked, pulling at her shirt, searching for a stain or a stray piece of lint he could be looking at. There was nothing.

He met her gaze, actually looking caught off guard for once, and neglected to answer her. His eyes returned to the novel.

"Okay then," she asserted, annoyed at his lack of explanation. She closed her eyes and stretched her arms above her before resting her hands underneath her head again. He hadn't been looking at her for any reason, he couldn't have been. He must have been lost in thought. Still, was it such a crazy idea? She wasn't a horrible looking girl. In fact, she considered herself above average. If he was looking at her before she rolled over, he'd definitely been checking her out. No, but, surely she couldn't compare to the sorts of women he was used to. Then again, a little change of pace isn't always a bad thing.

He tried to read. He didn't try very hard, but he tried. Soon he was looking at her again, first noting that her eyes were closed. Her chest rose and fell delicately with each breath and her shirt had ridden up to reveal a sliver of pale skin at her stomach. Her figure was flawless as far as he could gather. His mind wandered to the things men think about when faced with an attractive specimen such as herself. What would be the harm in bedding her? It would do wonders for relieving their mutual boredom. It would be easy, it would be nice to have a little stress relief. There was always the old adage not to mix business with pleasure, and he needed to save his strength. Better to not waste his time fraternizing with someone whose company he hopefully wouldn't be in much longer. Better to concentrate on getting stronger and getting out.

Eve's thoughts spiraled. She decided to reread something from her bookshelf to occupy her mind. How long until the menace was gone? How much longer would she have to stand by quietly, trying not to irritate him? He didn't seem to be doing anything, just waiting for an undisclosed event to occur or for a sign to come. What if it was weeks...months…

She opened her eyes, she needed to focus on something else. She looked to the bringer of her stress and inner turmoil, and his eyes were focussed right on her chest. She sat up again, feeling confident this time. "What?" She asked again with more assurance, almost mocking him. She knew for a fact this time that he'd been admiring her body and that knowledge in itself brought her joy for many reasons.

"Mind your tone," he warned as his eyes drifted up to hers.

"Okay," she agreed playfully, smiling too wide for his liking. She was already plotting ways to use this to her advantage. This was substantial proof that though he was not of earth, he still thought like a man.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you playing at?" He was fully aware she'd seen him looking at her body. She should be honored he would look upon her in such a way. He was a prince. He was the God of Mischief.

"Nothing," she remarked, a determined glow behind her eyes. She rose to grab a book and bent over, searching for something she hadn't read in a while. She found what she was looking for but pretended to ponder for a moment longer.

He grinned, ever perplexed by her actions. If she wanted to play with him, he would oblige.

When she returned to the bed, she sat next to him properly this time. She opened the book and rested it on her knees before arching forward slightly, creating a smooth curve from her neck to her lower back and beyond. He made no effort to hide his enjoyment as he slid his hand up the back of her shirt. He placed a finger at the base of her skull and drew it down her spine, stopping at her tailbone. A chill coursed through her in resonating pulses, causing her to sit up and look directly into his eyes.

His smile was covered in bad intentions. For a moment it brought out a side of her she hadn't had a chance to exercise in a few months, since her last boyfriend, whose name she was having trouble recalling. The thoughts that branched off from the present were drawn away, pulled out of her head by the roots as she felt compelled to really feel the moment at hand. Was this what she wanted? No...why would this be what she wanted?

Loki drew her in with one hand on the small of her back. Their mouths were close enough that he could feel her breath on his lips. He noticed in her expression a slight hesitation. If she was going to make it this easy for him...it had to be a trick.

He slammed the book in his lap closed and she recoiled in his arms, pushing back against his hand. "You cannot win a war this way, temptress," he said, "you cannot win at all."


	13. Chapter 13: Heartbeat

Chapter Thirteen: Heartbeat

As Barton turned a corner, he heard the steady click of heels behind him. He didn't need to turn around or check, he knew who it would be. Since their kiss, he had been feeling a sort of constant uncertainty. He wanted nothing more than to grab her and kiss her again, draw her back into his room and put off their assignment for an hour or two. There was something in his mind, a roadblock, that stopped him from acting so impulsively. When Natasha caught up, he was jarred out of his thoughts. "We should head out now," she suggested calmly.

"Fine, sounds good, just have to get a couple things from my room," he replied. His tone wasn't necessarily cold, mostly hesitant. Their kiss was something they'd both undoubtedly been thinking about for some time, and it had ended abruptly and uncomfortably. What could she say? She didn't even know what she wanted to come of it. Of _course_ she had feelings for him. Of _course_ the kiss had been spectacular. She shook it off. At that moment, they had a job to do. She waited for him outside his door and he reappeared a few minutes later, ready to go.

While it was ordinarily a struggle to get him to agree to let her drive, he allowed it with no dispute. She laughed before hopping in the driver's seat and decided it would be no fun working with him if an awkward _what exactly is going on between us_ hung above them. Before starting the car, she stared at him until he met her eyes-mostly out of confusion due to their lack of movement. "You're being weird," she stated, hoping to get the ball rolling toward un-weird.

"No."

She furrowed her brow. "No?"

"Okay, fine, maybe I am."

"Not _maybe_," she corrected before realizing she was going to have to take the reigns for the entire conversations. "We kissed."

Her bluntness caused him to widen his eyes, but it wasn't a surprise to him. That was just the way she operated. If she wanted something, she got it. It seemed that now she wanted something cleared up. "Yes, we did."

"And now you're being weird. Is it because we kissed?"

"I guess," he ventured deep into his own mind, puzzled. "You never came back. I thought that maybe…"

"Oh! Fury gave me an early morning mission and it was already so late. I needed to rest, I guess I didn't think to-"

Something clicked. "Yes! That's it!" He exclaimed.

"What's it?"

"The fact that you were so focussed on your job that you didn't even think to say goodnight to me."

At last, the source of his trepidation. Natasha started the car. For the first time in a long while, she wasn't sure what to say.

_Elsewhere_

Eve's brain was filled with static until she felt his fingertips glide off of her back, resulting in her return to the moment. The seriousness in his approach convinced her-he'd seen right through any of her spiteful intentions to use her body to distract him. In her defense, no official plan had been fully formed. She simply noticed something odd and tried to capitalize on it, rather unsuccessfully. This was partly due to her own apprehension. She'd engaged in sexual activity plenty of times before, sometimes on a whim, sometimes more meaningfully-but those experiences couldn't compare. Loki was so confident, he never seemed to suffer even a moment of doubt. Whether it be in his own actions or his presumptions about others. The ability to read minds gave him a finite advantage over her in every sense of the word. He could see her intentions with his own two eyes and listen to them unravel as she questioned herself internally.

"I'm not sure what you mean," she tried to back away from her teasing, separate herself from it. Maybe, just maybe, she could convince him he had imagined it. He couldn't _always_ be reading her mind. Could he? She hoped this conversation would be her answer.

Loki rested his hand back on his lap, rubbing his fingertips together briefly to forget the sensation of her skin. When he was done with this, he realized the motion had no effect. He couldn't and didn't want to forget. "You know exactly what I mean," he responded.

"All I did was open my book," she went on, pumping every ounce of confidence she could find into her words.

"Oh, I see," he feigned complacency with this explanation. She let her eyes leave his, worried of what harsh words would come next. "Do you think it wise to lie to me? Even if I couldn't hear your every meaningless thought at my leisure, your body speaks louder than your mind ever could. Stay still for a moment, I'll show you." He leaned toward her and she struggled not to lean back. He put one hand on either shoulder and held them where they were. "If you had been upset that I touched you...angry, scared-any negative emotion, really, you would have leaned away. Now, as you can tell," he moved his hands to her shoulder blades now and then delicately to the small of her back, "this angle you're making is leaning _into_ me, not away."

Eve tried to remain emotionless. She tried to take in whatever point he was making without reacting in his favor, but he held her with such finesse, his hands pressing her lightly toward him yet not forcing. When his hands moves again she mourned the loss of contact.

"That's not all," he told her, taking in her absent gaze. He placed his palms on each arm once more and slid them down, all the way to her wrists. "Your arms are on either side of you, even closer to me than the rest of your body. They're open, inviting me in. If you were angry, they would typically be crossed or on your hips." He took his hands away again and grinned. "Isn't it fascinating?" She was stuck in a fog, a haze of desire trickling down her spinal cord and branching out to the rest of her body. She tried to chase the sensation away with logic, but logic was nowhere to be found. Upon seeing her blank stare, he continued. "Do you need _more _proof?" he wondered aloud.

No, she didn't. Everything he'd pointed out made perfect sense. Proof wasn't what she needed, but she did need something. So she nodded.

He slid his right hand onto her neck and drifted it until his fingertips touched her collarbone. His palm was dangerously close to her chest, grazing the top of her breast slightly. He slipped his thumb underneath the neckline of her shirt and that movement on its own seemed more intimate than anything she'd previously experienced. "Your heartbeat," he observed, his voice low and lustful, "is quickened. Do you feel it?"

Again, she nodded. She neglected to see him now as a criminal. She chose to ignore the indecent things he had done, filled instead with notions of him doing indecent things to her. Everything about him was coated in irresistible sex appeal. His appearance, for one, but every bold, self-assured action, the way he aspired to make everything and everyone his understudy. No one she'd ever met could compare to him, and the strongest attraction she felt was to the fact that he _knew_ it.

Loki could smell her thirst for him growing with each passing second. If she hadn't really wanted it before, she did now. He moved his thumb up and down slowly, caressing her silky skin, and hooked it under her bra strap. She bit her lip-the most telling sign of all. He glided the strap off of her shoulder so it hung down her upper arm, and she made no move to fix it. He was enjoying toying with her, his own personal plaything. As he gazed upon her plump lips, which quivered slightly, he felt a familiar urge in his gut. Would it be so wrong to act on an emotion rather than rage for once? Would it be _so_ wrong to abandon his mission just for a bit to have some real fun?

Eve was shuddering periodically, body unable to handle the ferocity with which he touched her. The motions were simple foreplay, nothing at all, and still she felt more fervor than she'd ever experienced before. If she'd felt at all in control, she would have kissed him by now. There was something thrilling about waiting, wanting him so badly her heart felt full to bursting. She made absolutely no movements apart from her involuntary shivers, desperate to avoid him accusing her of tempting him again. She wanted nothing to stop him this time, whatever hesitations that existed before were extinguished by his touch.

He looked away from her, toward the door.

"No one will be here, you know that," she encouraged him. She felt his hand lift up and leave her and lamented the loss of closeness. She _had_ to speak. He was like a deer she'd frightened away. She felt keen to apologize, but what good could come of it?

"Someone _is_ here," he whispered, "I'm going to change my form again and go check it out." Before she could object, he sprang up and landed his feet elegantly on the ground. She was underwhelmed by the news that someone was at her home, thinking it a lie to be rid of her, and her thoughts seemed to hover around how spry he was, how fluid his body's movements were. He picked up her phone before exiting and winked at her. Her vision trickled down to the curve of his smile, sinful images floating through her brain now.

Loki walked confidently down the hall and peered out the front window. He shut his eyes, trying to get a better feel for where the sensation was coming from. He stepped out the front door, only slightly, and kept one ear listening for Eve. One look to his right and he saw down the street a car parked with two figures sitting inside. He cast an aura around the vehicle so that it would appear to them as though he went back into the house after retrieving the mail. Instead, he strode casually over to it until he could see them clearly. When he spotted the red locks and pouty lips he recognized, he grimaced.

He made his way back to the house, then to the bedroom. The girl hadn't moved even slightly. Her bra strap still hung down her arm loosely. Even though his mind was racing, full of plans to divert the spies, he couldn't help but smile at how nicely she'd waited for him. "I was right," he informed her. Her eyes snapped to his in anxious worry. "We're being watched."


	14. Chapter 14: Starstruck

Chapter Fourteen: Starstruck

Natasha lended her full attention to the doorstep as Graham walked out onto it.

"He's looking right at us" Barton noted, resulting in a quick shush from her. He watched as the man in question grabbed the mail and strolled back inside.

"He only looked over here for a moment," she contributed once he was out of sight.

"She must really like him." Natasha merely glanced at him, urging him to continue. "Well, he's still here. You said they just started up this love affair or whatever, right?"

"Yes, that could have been a lie to spare Agent Barrows' feelings. He's quite enamored with this Eve girl. She's pretty, I guess they grew up together. See, there are things that make sense and then things that don't add up. I can't speak to her personality, I can only speak to what I would do."

"What would you do?"

"At what stage in this mess?"

"Someone's, you know, _enamored_," he borrowed her word, "with you, but you're into someone else."

"I wouldn't lie, that much is true."

"But you're so good at lying," he teased

She smiled at him. "I only use those skills on bad guys now."

_Elsewhere_

Eve tucked her knees underneath herself and pulled her bra strap back up almost instantaneously. "Watched?" She inquired, conveying a vague, unconvincing nervousness. This news made her feel safe. It brought her back into the reality of her predicament. Danger, Will Robinson.

"SHIELD agents. How did you get in contact with them? What have you done?" Loki's face grew more agitated by the moment.

"What? I didn't...I couldn't have!"

"_That's_ why you were being so friendly. Trying to give them an opportunity to come set up surveillance, recording devices and the like."

"All I did was open my book…" she repeated weakly. _And practically begged you to take my clothes off,_ her mind added.

"You know what we're going to do now?" He asked, but it didn't sound like a question. It sounded like a threat. She opted out of answering, her only guesses involved violence. "We're going to go out. Give them a nice, comfortable window to come install their technology. Then when we come back, we'll put on a convincing show for them. They'll be satisfied that we're just another mortal couple."

Eve tried to hide her utter disdain for this idea. She doubted her own ability to watch her every word, play a part in some scheme. She was the exact type of person to say _just_ the wrong thing-resulting in her death in this case. This tightened the rope around her neck. It didn't help that he was already suspicious of her. In a way, she was flattered that he considered her even remotely able to pull off something so sneaky.

"Well?" He barked. "Let's go."

"Uh, yeah, okay," she managed to say. She got up and travelled to the kitchen to grab her car keys off of the hook. "I mean, where would you want to go?"

"We don't have to actually go anywhere, we can just leave the house for a bit." He followed her to her car and hesitated as she opened the driver's side door. "I should operate the vehicle," he held his hand out for her keys.

She turned to him, flustered. "Have you ever driven a car before?"

"I have handled crafts far more complicated than this contraption."

"Just let me drive. No funny business, I swear. Funny business hasn't done me any favors."

"Maybe you're just bad at it," he scoffed before retreating.

"At what? Funny business?" She chuckled and got in the car. "I majored in Funny Business when I went to college."

As he settled in, he looked honestly puzzled. "Your universities offer courses in-"

"Nope," she interjected, "nope, nope, nope."

"They why would you say-"

"Are there no comedians on Asgard? People who tell jokes?" She started the car and began to back up.

"There are. The thing is, they're actually funny."

Her foot hit the brakes and she stared at him in disbelief, then considered driving herself to the nearest burn center. Burned by the God of Mischief-each day this week came with a new low.

"Go that way," he instructed, pointing in the direction away from where the agents were parked. She obliged and cruised down the road, trying to think of scenic routes they could take. Nothing came to mind. She rolled down her window just slightly. The air felt amazing after days in her house.

"How long are we going to be driving aimlessly for?"

"A while. I'll tell you when to turn around."

"Do you want to listen to music?"

He didn't even bother to answer her. He looked at the passing houses and occasional trees with a stoic lack of interest. Surely nothing here could compare to whatever wonders were on Asgard, it showed on his face.

"Say," she started up again, she could feel his eyes rolling even though she wasn't looking his way anymore, "that redhead that came with Sam earlier. Was that the same woman who fought with the Avengers? I mean, is she an Avenger?"

"Yes."

"Wow!" She exclaimed. She felt like she could spread out, be more open. For some reason, she felt like he wouldn't kill her while she was in control of the sedan. Her heartbeat sped up a bit at red lights, though. "I feel a little starstruck."

"Starstruck?"

"You know, when you-well, okay, maybe you don't know, since you're a prince or whatever-but when you see someone famous or noteworthy. You get kind of, I guess, fluttery and dizzy."

"It sounds like an iron deficiency," he sounded incredibly bored.

"Okay, so you can't relate. Doesn't matter, still feels cool."

"Do I make you feel starstruck?"

She looked at him and he was staring out the front window. He didn't seem at all invested in the question he'd presented. To Eve, this was a good thing. He wasn't trying to trick her or catch her off guard, he had nothing to gain or lose. He was simply making conversation. "In a very different way," she answered. She took a step back from everything. The threats, the way her house had now become a prison, and all the physical contact she'd shared with this man. If she could make it out alive, this would all make for a pretty kick ass story. Only thing was, no one would believe her. Except for Sam. Sam always believed her. Maybe that's how he knew something was wrong without a shadow of a doubt.

An hour of small talk-_very_ small talk-went by and all she had decided was to drive away from the city. At the very least, the conversation was pleasant. Loki's aura of boredom had lifted when the area grew more rural, it seemed to intrigue him rather than disgust him as her suburbs had appeared to. They drove past a farm that had a large sign advertising Collie puppies. She grinned and turned around almost instantly.

"What are you doing?" He asked more calmly than she'd expected.

"Trust me. No funny business." She pulled into the long driveway and scanned the land. She caught the sight of an older woman who began to walk over to the car as she pulled it off to the side on the dirt.

"What are we doing here? I _don't_ trust you." Even so, he didn't sound overly worried.

Eve ignored him boldly and exited the car. "Hi there," she greeted as the woman approached. Loki could tell by the way she spoke that she didn't know this woman and it lessened his concerns slightly.

"Hello," she reached out to shake Eve's hand, but drew it back swiftly to remove her gardening glove. She laughed warmly. "Sorry about that," she said with a smile.

"No worries," Eve grinned back before slamming her door shut. She walked around to Loki's side and opened his door for him. "Coming?" she asked.

Loki stepped out, his mouth pressed into a hard line. Even though he looked like someone else, he still felt oddly vulnerable out in the elements. Eve's casual attitude wasn't helping. He still wasn't convinced that she had nothing to do with the SHIELD agents showing up. He couldn't think of a way she could have meddled, but that was exactly what worried him. He shook the woman's hand and said nothing.

"Right this way," she said before leading them behind the garage. "They're all fenced in, they're very well behaved. Hop on over and make some friends, I'll be along in a moment," she stepped away to take a phone call but kept them in her sight.

Eve was the first to launch herself over the low wooden fence and Loki noted her every motion, admiring her flexibility. He followed her and watched as she pulled one of the pups effortlessly into her arms, cooing and petting it as the creature licked her anywhere it could reach. There was something different about her out here. Maybe it was the fact that there was a witness just yards away, and she was unafraid. She set the puppy down and tended to another that was tugging at her pant leg. She chased it and let it chase her, laughing all the while. The fresh air was doing wonders for her, and there were no eggshells at her feet now.

As much as he loved keeping her in a cage, threatening her into submission and all that-there was a different emotion coming to a slow boil as he looked on. They'd shared an idle conversation on the way here, something he enjoyed despite the pointlessness of it. Up until now, he'd lumped all mortals together as the same, ignorant creature. The girl before him had proven to be the same as his preconceived notions in a lot of ways. She was easily frightened and manipulated, she was headstrong and foolish. Yet her foolishness at times was drawn from her desire to survive. Even though she had next to no one in her life, she wanted to go on. She had a mother in rehabilitation and a best friend she would always end up disappointing, no source of income anymore and a man from another realm holding her captive. Yet she wanted to go on.

Loki approached her, she had a different puppy in her arms now. The animal was certainly adorable and eager, tail wagging impossibly fast. He put a hand on the fur on top of its head and pet it delicately. When he saw Eve smiling as wide as he'd ever witnessed, he wanted nothing more than to keep the image fresh in his mind forever. He _wanted_ her to be happy. His mind flooded with thoughts of Thor and Jane. He had always thought it strange that he would become smitten with such an ordinary being. He was beginning to understand. He silenced his past concerns, his fear of repercussions and kissed her softly on the cheek. He pressed his lips to her skin and held the back of her head to draw her in. When he pulled away, her mouth had fallen into a vacant, shocked expression. Her eyes were wide and hungry-he couldn't tell if for an explanation or for more. When that intoxicating smile spread back across her lips, he knew.

A/N:

It's kind of challenging to slowly alter the nature of their relationship, what with Loki being so stubborn and full of angst and all that. This chapter was especially hard, given that it was always planned to be a transition chapter. Then this lucky, silly idea of them coming across puppies came into my head out of nowhere. For some reason it seemed to work, and as I continued to press the idea it clicked together really neatly. Plus, who doesn't like puppies?

Random: I watched a movie yesterday called Only Lovers Left Alive, where Tom Hiddleston plays a vampire. What was really cool about it for me is that his wife's name is Eve, so the character is saying how much he loves her and such. Every time he said her name I got this irrationally happy feeling. If any of you guys have seen this movie, I'd looooove love love for you to message me so we can talk about it. I keep flip flopping about whether I liked it or not, whether I was in the right mental place to enjoy it, etc. At the very least, you get to see him naked. No one I know has seen it and I've got all this pent up energy and things I want to say about it. Do you guys get that way? Movies sometimes hit me way too hard and then stick under my skin for weeks. I feel too much. Writer's curse, I think.

Anyway! Thanks as always for reading, it means the world to me!


	15. Chapter 15: Easy

Chapter Fifteen: Easy

The air in the car had grown thick with heavy silence. The agents sat patiently, for once in their lives without a clue what to say. Barton snuck a peek at Natasha, her eyes stared ahead with the cool focus of a seasoned spy. He wanted to give her all of his attention, Despite the job at hand, she had most of it already. When he thought back on what he'd said before they left, about her being too focussed on her job, his heart filled with regret. He should have just swallowed the realization. In the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter. He wanted her for more reasons than he could count-yet he chose to vocalize his one doubt in a sea of positives.

"Look," she said suddenly, "they're going somewhere."

His eyes were already pointed toward the house, but her statement caused the scene before him to come into focus. Graham and Eve were standing by the driver's side door talking until Graham broke off to get in the passenger seat. Natasha chuckled. "She doesn't let him drive either."

Barton laughed. "Someday you'll let me. It'll be a good day, Nat."

"Don't bet on it," she smiled and her energy flooded the car.

"Where do you think they're going?"

"Doesn't matter. We have to be fast, so let's assume they're going to the convenience store to get milk, and hope they talk about it when they get back." The moment Eve's sedan turned the corner at the end of the street, she sprang out of the car casually. Barton followed her lead and they strolled to the house. He held the backyard gate open for her and noted the dog house. "There's no dogs here," she informed him when she noticed him checking it out.

"Not like that would have been an issue," he replied breezily. He was suddenly worried she'd assume he had a fear of dogs.

"Better without it," she went on, "dogs make noise."

"Do they now?" He quipped sarcastically, relieved, before handing her half of the recording devices and adhesive. "What do you think? Two on the bedroom window, two on the kitchen window here...and the others?"

"Throw one in the bathroom window...there's another kitchen window the way we came back...I'll put mine up out front." She left expecting to finish before him. When he crept up by her side as she was applying her last, she remembered agility was his forte.

She pulled out her phone and checked to make sure each device was operational before sliding it back in her pocket. "All good?" Barton asked.

"All good," she answered and turned on her heels to leave. When he was by her side, she hooked her arm through his.

"In case anyone sees us?"

Natasha looked at him meaningfully. He met her gaze and faltered. Her hair was bathed in sunlight, each strand trying to mimic the star's glow. In her eyes he saw beauty and truth, her lips were full and smiling still. All he could feel was joy when she said, "No."

_Elsewhere_

Eve had decided to let Loki drive back. He'd insisted that he had observed her and was beyond capable. While nervous, she was delighted at the idea of being driven after the long, strange day that had preceded, and allowed herself to be persuaded by him. He operated the car with ease, as though he'd been driving since he was sixteen. She tried to imagine when he was a teenager-brooding and full of angst, she assumed. She let a giggle escape her lungs at the notion.

"What?" He asked without accusing. His genuine curiosity brought warmth to her heart.

"It's not important," she insisted.

"Alright," he accepted without a fuss, "just make sure you direct me properly-so that we don't get lost."

Eve paused and looked for a street sign, any street sign. The long road ahead provided no assistance. "I, uh," she smiled a toothy, guilty smile.

"You're not certain of how to get home?"

"Ahh, not so much. Just keep going, I'll figure it out as we get closer." Loki sighed and sped up slightly. "Wait! Oh!" She shouted. "I can use my phone, it has GPS."

"It has what?"

"A...map."

He wriggled the phone out of his pocket. "Show me. Do _nothing_ else." She pulled up the maps app and presented the screen to him. "Is this a trick?"

"No, no tricks, just technology."

"Fine. But-"

"I know, I know." He seemed to be pleased with this, he offered no objection. "I just need to type in my address, okay?" Again, no objection. She hit the _go home_ option on the app that had her address programmed in. With careful eyes, she checked Loki's expression and then slyly switched over to her text messages. She clicked on Sam's conversation and saw no new messages. The last one she'd received was him begging her to call him the night Loki had sent him a text on her behalf. The text before that one simply said "I'm hurt, but I just want you to be happy. As yourself. I guess what I mean is, you're not being yourself, and any guy who would change you doesn't deserve you." She scrolled up to see what Loki had sent to invoke such a reaction. The text read "I am too busy being pleasured by my lover to read the novel you've written me." She was suddenly very, very embarrassed. And to think Sam was ready to apologize when she'd frantically called him. She felt a strong desire to read what he'd sent her before, the 'novel.' She scrolled up and up, overwhelmed by the sheer number of words. She finally reached the top, and he had begun it all with a phrase that nearly brought tears to her eyes-_My Eve_. What had started as an inside joke, when they were children making fun of his older sister and her first boyfriend, had blossomed into a sweet thought full of sentiment, no longer a joke at all.

"How long is your address exactly?" Loki asked, accusingly this time.

"Almost done," she lied before switching back to the navigation app and flashing the screen at him.

"Just tell me where to go." Eve nodded and watched the animated car roll down the road on her cell. "You know, the real road might provide a better view," he offered quietly, a hint of concern in his voice. Her mood had changed rapidly and he found himself wondering why. Maybe it was the realization that soon she'd be back in her home-now her prison-waiting for him to go. It had to be challenging to wonder if there was an end date. For all she knew, his plan could have been to spend years with her. He considered this possibility, given that he _was_ staying with her indefinitely. The truth was, he had no plan to speak of. After regaining his power, he wasn't sure what to do. Without an army behind him, it would be completely pointless to go against Thor and his comrades again. If he stayed with her, it would be a dramatically meeker life than he'd planned for himself on Midgard. Not a king, not a ruler, just a man with a woman.

"What's wrong?" He probed, realizing she hadn't spoken since he'd gotten lost in his own head.

"Turn left," she said, failing to hide her discouraged tone. She couldn't stop thinking about that text. It was humiliating, tasteless and spiteful. Cruel. It reminded her that Loki was not her friend. She touched her cheek where he'd kissed her. With all the emotion he'd conveyed through his eyes, she'd believed it to be sincere. Now she was second guessing her intuition-again. There was no real way to tell with him.

Loki turned the car and noticed her hand held to her cheek. When he looked, she quickly removed it. He could see the unadulterated conflict brewing beneath her skin. More than anything, it upset him. He wanted to reach out and hold her hand, reassure her his intentions had not been to fool her. That was due in part to the fact that he's acted so impulsively. For once, he had acted with the knowledge that his actions would bring himself pleasure. The sight of her troubled by it annoyed him. Every single one of his movements had consequences, a simple concept to grasp. He didn't know what he wanted, he just knew it wasn't that look on her face.

"What's wrong?" He repeated with a bit more emphasis.

Eve took a deep breath and regained her composure. "I'm just upset you wouldn't let me bring Sasha home with us," she quipped.

"You shouldn't have named her, then," he scolded, "besides-_Sasha_ is an awful name for an animal."

"Um. You saw how adorable she was, right?"

"But someday she will be a fierce beast, and she deserves a name that reflects that. Glory or something along those lines."

"Hate to disappoint you, but she'll pretty much always be adorable," she rebutted before laughing.

"I suppose, then," he paused, deliberating, "she's like you in that respect."

Eve's cheeks grew hot. She swallowed nervously and searched his face fervently for a sign that he was being truthfully sweet.

Loki saw that look in her eyes again. _Again_. It wasn't just a glimmer of doubt, it was all over her face. Eve though it made sense, even though it was his own doing, even though she had every right not to trust him...it infuriated him. A realization pierced his mind, he yearned to be trusted. Not by everyone, not by anyone, in fact, but her. He was certain that after all he'd done, to her and her people, it was not a possibility. Instead of facing the idea of failure, he chose his own destiny, accepting the reality for what it was and always would be. He took her hand in his gingerly as he stopped the car at a red light. "You are easy to excite," he commented, a light rouge still brushed over her cheeks, "you are easy to manipulate," her lips fell to that signature desperate frown, "and that is what makes you so easy to break."

A/N:

Sorry for the delay! Stayed with my mother for a few days and her internet is out, hard to write on my phone :P

I know not much happened here, mostly Loki fighting with himself and all that. There are a lot of super fun things coming up, I have a feeling you guys are gonna really enjoy the next few chapters! I know I'm gonna enjoy writing them. Thank you thank you thank you to anyone and everyone who's taken the time to read/follow/review this story. It helps me more than you know to share it and have it be appreciated.

PS: I edited this at six in the morning, let me know if you find typos :D


	16. Chapter 16: Pretend

Chapter Sixteen: Pretend

Sam leaned back in his chair, large headphones resting around his neck. Natasha sat beside him with one ear in and one ear out of her headset. Barton, who was on her other side, had abandoned his seat entirely and sat with his legs outstretched on the floor. His headset rested on his knees.

"They've been gone all goddamn day," Barton stated, annoyed. "We should have followed them, that would have been faster than this."

Natasha shot them each a look. "I'm glad you two have nominated me to do all the listening."

"Once something's actually happening, let us know, we'll tune right in," Barton offered with mock enthusiasm. "What are they doing that takes all day?"

Sam grumbled something unintelligible. Natasha turned to him and asked, "Have you heard anything from her?"

"Nothing," he replied woefully. "It's so strange. We rarely go this long without talking. She's got to be mad at me. I acted like a jealous idiot."

"Well, are you?" Barton chimed in.

"Am I what?"

"A jealous idiot."

Sam thought about this, but not for long. "Yes."

"See, well, there you go! If-"

"Is this going to be constructive or just hurtful?" Natasha cut him off.

Barton merely rolled his eyes at her and went on. "If you're able to recognize that you were the problem, that's a very good thing. And, okay, maybe it wasn't one hundred percent on you. Maybe the guy was a jerk, maybe Eve is being unreasonable. But the fact that you can say 'hell yeah, I'm jealous, hell yeah, I'm an idiot' speaks volumes about you. Really. Seriously."

"That's very...kind of you," Sam commented, emphasizing the word _kind_ as though it were questionable, "but if I never hear from her again, my jealousy will have ruined my oldest friendship."

"Come on, man," Barton continued, thankful to have something to occupy his time, "if you really think she would do that because of this, she's not worth it. Give it time."

"Guys. Headsets on-I heard a car door," Natasha spoke urgently and the men took their positions. Their headsets filled with Graham's voice saying, "Good to get you home, darling," and then three distinct sounds. A smack of a kiss, a purr of a moan and then the two of them laughing.

_Elsewhere_

Eve folded her hands in her lap, trying to forget where Loki's hand had rested. After he'd insulted her, his hand had pulled away from hers abruptly, leaving a metaphorical burn that felt all too real. She'd continued to direct him, toying with foolish ideas involving her phone. None of them were plausible and most of them were pointless. She seemed determined to push her luck with him.

"How far away are we?" He asked, voice emotionless.

"About fifteen minutes or so," she stated after checking the estimate on the screen.

"You sound so hurt," he mocked. She neglected to respond. She was hurt. "While I have your undivided attention, let's go over a few things, shall we? When we get back to your home, our every word will be recorded. You are to act at all times like my other half. You will follow my lead only-take no initiatives of your own. Once we've thoroughly proven ourselves, I will find the devices and point them out to you. You will pretend to find them on your own and call Sam to scold him. If at any time you speak out of turn or say _anything_ that would be considered suspicious, I will snap your neck and flee. Do you understand?"

Eve sighed. Crystal clear parameters with absolutely no wiggle room? Perfect. "Yeah, I get it, " she confirmed. She threw her legs up on the dashboard and crossed her arms, visibly pouting. "Just one thing-how are you going to meet your daily quota of saying insensitive things this way?"

"Oh, my darling," he cooed, "these devices will record us for no longer than tonight and tomorrow morning. I suppose I'll just have to be exceptionally cruel during the last two thirds of tomorrow. How does that sound?"

"Stellar."

"There's my girl," he reached over and pinched her cheek. She pulled her face away and leaned her head against the window. The rest of the way, she directed him but never looked at him. She ignored him but never thought of anything but him.

The car pulled onto her street and he slowed down to a near crawl. He grabbed her chin and turned her to face him. "You are going to be playing a part. If you can't think of something to say or you doubt your ability to perform, remain quiet. I can improvise with silence, but mistakes are harder to work around." Eve said nothing. "Eve, my love," he slid his other hand onto her cheek. She got that puzzled, conflicted blankness in her eyes. He tightened his grip on her chin. "Get in character. Show me you can do this."

She moved her right hand to his wrist and wound her emotions tight on their spools. "Loki, my love," she appeased him, meeting his eyes with a confidence she'd pulled from her core. Her main trepidation rested on one question-how long could she keep it up?

He pulled the car into the driveway and winked at her before exiting. She followed and unlocked the front door with steady hands. She closed the door behind him and started taking off her shoes. He stood behind her, close enough that she could feel his breath on her hair. In one swift movement, he pulled her hair off of her right shoulder and swept it to the other side. He held it there and kissed her in between her neck and shoulders. She felt him smile against her skin as an involuntary sigh that became a low moan escaped her. She laughed, at first nervously and then more normally as he joined in.

"I'd say that was a day well spent," he announced, sounding pleased. He kicked his shoes off gracefully and began walking toward the bedroom.

"Yeah, it was," she agreed. If he hadn't been so unkind on the way back, it may have actually been true. She may have been able to look at this situation as a sort of game, or an excuse to get close to him. She grimaced, ever agitated by her own twisted thoughts. Get close to him? To what end?

"Are you coming?" He beckoned sweetly, turning around briefly to smile wide at her.

She knew he was just acting but at the same time, no matter how many time she stopped herself mid-thought, no matter how many times she went over it in her head, she wanted his sincerity more than anything. "Of course," she matched his sweetness, echoing the excitement of a budding relationship, before following him.

They changed as they always did, with their backs turned to each other. As they crawled into bed, Eve entertained ideas of going right to sleep. "How are you feeling?" he asked her, though not even looking in her direction.

"Sleepy," she lied.

"Yes, a long day we've had," he chuckled. "Can I just say...and, excuse me if I'm overstepping here, but, well…"

"What is it?" She feigned interest, not looking at him either.

"Sometimes when one enters into a new relationship, it's expected to see each other sporadically, as to not rush things. But I've been here the past few nights, and it doesn't feel odd at all. Typically, I'd be itching to go home. It's so strange, Eve, but it feels like I never want to be away from you," he confessed, and every word sounded like it was a challenge to say, like he was concerned his sentiment would scare her.

"I think…" Eve began, then had to stop herself. He was looking at her now, and she saw that false honesty that had fooled her many times now. She twisted the crank, pulling any straying emotional threads back in. "I think that's very nice," she breathed, "I, uh, I feel the same." She was immediately proud of her ability to pretend.

"Ah, I'm so glad," he laughed nervously, "so, what do you say we use what's left of our energy?" He pulled her into him, giving her no time to object. He kissed her neck and below her ear, each motion precise and measured. He grinned into her skin, delighted that it hadn't taken much to elicit a reaction from her. She had melted into him, sighing and clearly holding back exactly how much she was enjoying herself. He continued the way he was and wrapped his arms tightly around her, one hand holding her head and the other pressing into the small of her back. He was prepared to torture her, make her want it so badly she couldn't stand it. Her hands found his chest and slid up to his neck. He was taken aback by how great it felt to have her hands on him. He recognized quickly just how easily he could lose himself, lose control. He pulled away and admired her, her cheeks rosy and her posture clearly flustered. "Take off your shirt," he commanded decisively.

Eve stared into his eyes. Her body was begging her to give in to him. But as the sensation of his lips on her subsided, she found whatever clarity she had left and clung to it. He couldn't make her do anything. Well, that wasn't _entirely_ true. He could. She knew that in this one instance, however, that he wouldn't. No matter how badly she wanted it, it was just biology. Wasn't it? When she looked inside herself, her emotions lay in tangles across her cells. She couldn't concentrate when he touched her, she couldn't make sense of what she really wanted. At the very least, she would want their first sexual encounter to be more private. That much she knew, so she shook her head steadily _no_.

Loki's face fell. She had obviously enjoyed the way he'd touched her, kissed her, held her...still she chose to maintain control. He nodded once to communicate that he understood. _Even so_, he thought, _the show must go on._ "You look so beautiful," he said suddenly, "but I'm afraid I've overestimated myself. I am far too tired to continue. Is it okay if we pick this up tomorrow?" For the first time since he'd arrived, he decided it was worth it to spend energy to read her thoughts.

She let a smile loose, relieved. "Yes, that sounds great," she said before settling into bed next to him. _We can pick this up,_ she thought, _when no one is listening in_.

Loki grinned at her before turning out the light. He was glad to hear it was not due to his skills, or lack thereof, because he knew he was excellent at pleasing women. He was equally glad to hear he could take her at his leisure when SHIELD was satisfied, and thought of nothing else until he drifted off to sleep.


	17. Chapter 17: Again

Chapter Seventeen: Again

Fury made his way into the room where Natasha, Barton and Sam were stationed. They each sat at their computers displaying various degrees of boredom. Barton was actually asleep. Even Natasha, who was usually professional to a fault, was slouched back in her chair.

"_Excuse me_," he boomed, causing them all to look back at him. Natasha and Sam quickly fixed their postures while Barton struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Sorry, sir," Natasha apologized, "nothing's happened in a long while." After Graham and Eve had fallen asleep the night before, the three agents had switched places with an overnight surveillance team to get some rest. "Nothing all night and they're not even awake yet."

"Nothing from when they came home?" Fury glared at Barton who didn't seem to be fully awake.

"No, sir, just chatter. Nothing substantial," Sam answered.

"Well keep at it," Fury snapped, his eyes still glued to Barton. "Why is Barton dozing off?"

"Feel free to ask me directly," Barton responded sarcastically before yawning.

"I wasn't sure you were listening," Fury barked. "Let me know of any updates." Then, just as soon as he'd arrived, he was gone again."

Natasha turned to Barton, who was rubbing his eyes. "Why _are_ you so tired?"

"I'm not, really. This is just crazy boring. I wish there was something action-packed I could be doing to help. What if this teeny tiny lead doesn't pan out? What if while we're listening to some average couple have sex-"

"They didn't have sex," Sam jumped in defensively.

"Not last night," Barton scoffed, "but they have. Right?"

Natasha smacked him on the arm. "I feel like the answer you gave me was widely disproportionate to the question I asked you."

"So you disagree?" Barton wondered, rubbing his arm where she'd struck him.

"I accept the possibility, but I trust my instincts. I don't believe in coincidences, you know that."

"That's fair," Barton remarked. "So, Sam, you didn't notice anything odd about Eve? I know not much happened, but…"

"It's difficult to say," Sam mused, "I know her very well, but I don't know what she's like during intimate situations like this. I just hope we can come to a conclusion soon."

"It would help if they would get the hell out of bed," Barton complained. "Don't they have jobs?"

"Eve doesn't," Sam informed him, "her building was demolished by the Chitauri. She blamed herself acting weird on it, which, I guess isn't totally unreasonable."

Natasha laughed. "Not at all. Since the invasion, I think we're all acting a little weird."

_Elsewhere_

Loki had been awake for hours, watching Eve sleep and thinking. He was restless, consumed by fantasies involving her. He'd given up diverting his thoughts. The more he regarded her, the more he wanted to touch her again, feel her writhe beneath his expert touch. After every underhanded, sadistic thing he'd said or done, she still couldn't keep her thoughts from straying to a naughty place-and that excited him to no end. It didn't surprise him that she found him completely irresistible. The surprise was in the fact that he wanted her just as badly. She was laying on her side facing him, so he reached out and placed a steady hand on her waist.

When her eyes flickered open slowly, she found him gazing at her, laying mere inches away. She felt his hand settle into the curve of her body and stay there. The look on his face was one of relaxed interest and impatience, as though he'd been waiting for her to wake up. Her dreams had been filled with all sorts of inappropriate encounters, all involving him. Her mind was still cloudy and warm, echoes of images wafting around her eyelids with each blink. As he held his powerful eye contact, she found herself inclined to slide into him, closing the gap between their bodies. His hand adjusted to the move by finding the small of her back and holding her closely.

"Good morning, darling," he spoke slowly, voice husky and low.

"Good morning," she responded in her own soft tone. She made no conscious effort to shake the dirty recollections of her dreams out of her brain. Instead, she clung to them, relishing in the woven fantasies she'd invented on her own. Then came a sharp pain in her stomach. Neither of them had eaten since the morning before. "I'm starving," she blurted as her hand came down to hold her stomach.

"Let's have breakfast," he suggested obviously before pulling away and getting up. When his hand left her back, he trailed it across her, touching her until he could no longer reach.

She followed him gladly to the kitchen. They traded off cooking while the other performed their morning routines. It was easy for Eve to decide not to do anything stupid while they were apart. Her mind was elsewhere and would be for some time. She made pancakes and bacon with a barely present smile on her face, lollygagging through daydreams. They ate across from each other, occasionally exchanging playful glances-though his often had a more devious air about them.

When they were finished, she gathered their plates and cups and immediately started washing them. Normally she wasn't so quick to clean up after herself, she'd adopted a more laid back policy regarding that sort of thing as she grew older. She chose to wash them straight away out of a nervousness, a lack of knowing what to do with her hands. She knew what she _wanted_ to do with them, where she wished to put them. She had grown admittedly bolder since last night and praised herself internally for moving into him when she'd wanted to. Even so, she was tentative and terrified. There was that constant undertone taunting her: _he's just putting on an act, none of this is real._ She began to scrub feverishly at the thought, trying to shake it from her body. She stopped when she felt hands on her hips.

He turned her around to face him and she dropped the plate she'd been attacking. He moved her to the right of the sink and lifted her with ease, placing her on the counter. "I'm afraid I can't contain myself any longer," he confessed, hunger dripping from his every pore. She felt her lips trembling. She reached inside herself for something even slightly cool to say back to him, but he'd erased all the words she knew. To deny him would be a crime. So it was her that kissed him. Their lips collided with grace and pressure. His hands held fast to her waist, his fingers digging in and reflecting his passion. Her hands were wet but that aroused no trepidation in her, she placed them on his neck and pulled him in, locking them together.

Loki slid her forward, hands moving quickly to her hips and retreating back to her waist when their bodies were pressed against each other. Her legs spread when he did, making way for him. He felt drops of water trickle down his neck and it sent a shiver through him. He eliminated any space between them and bit her lower lip. She twitched into him and pulled back, startled. He'd applied more force than a playful nibble would require, and he watched as a crimson bead of blood grew on her lip. The faucet was still running, and in this time it was the only noise in the room.

The God of Mischief stretched his arm out and shut off the tap. The tension engulfed them both, each breath audible and slow. Before she could object, he lifted her chin up with his index finger's knuckle and swept his tongue across her wounded lip. Then he was back to kissing her intensely. When her tongue ventured past his lips, his mouth tasted like copper, and somehow it failed to bother her. He advanced into her space, forcing her to lean back. His hips drove into hers and she felt how hard he was against her. She moaned into his mouth at the contact. He pulled his lips away and kissed below her ear before whispering, "Again." He thrust into her a second time and she allowed herself to moan louder into his ear.

She became painfully aware that she was being listened to and fought to find a side of her that didn't mind. Maybe, somewhere in her psyche, was a girl who didn't care who heard. A girl who could throw caution to the wind and act impulsively, passionately and even a bit foolishly.

He noticed her pause and continued to tantalize her by massaging her thighs and kissing that tender spot on her neck she'd reacted to before. When she appeared to be struggling to stay in the moment, he backed away from her, shaking his head in frustration. He should have known better than to get so invested in this interaction, given that she'd rejected him the night before. He watched as she attempted to communicate sorrow through her eyes. He held back a sigh. He wanted to take her, keep pushing until she absolutely couldn't say no. He considered it, it would be too easy for him to seduce her. He knew her only unwillingness rested on those damned recording devices. There was a large part of him that hoped her beloved Sam was listening. That thought on its own made him want to ravage her out of spite. Even more so, the way she acted and reacted, the way she curled into him like she'd been dying to pleasing him all her life...he wanted her more fiercely with each line they crossed. He rubbed his eyes and accepted that it couldn't be that moment. He grabbed her by the wrist, agitation his mistress, and dragged her outside into the backyard. He pointed to the bugs on the window and retrieved her phone from his pocket before throwing it her way. She caught it, barely, and kept trying to apologize with her face. He gestured toward the phone, still shaking his head occasionally. She gave the cell her attention finally and he took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself.

The phone rang four times before Sam answered with a nervous, "Hey, Eve."

"Hey, super spy!" She shouted, not one drop of friendliness for his benefit. "You will never, ever guess what I just found while taking the trash out. Or...maybe you will."

"What...what did you…" Sam never was good at playing it cool. Maybe with SHIELD, but not with her.

"You get over here right now and remove them. All of them. Every last fucking one, got it? Now. You have twenty minutes to get here. Are you in the car yet?"

"Eve-"

"I swear to god, if you pretend not to know what I'm talking about again, I'm gonna lose my goddamn mind. Are you mentally prepared for that, bud?" Loki looked on, impressed by her performance. It helped that she was legitimately mad Sam had signed off on installing spy gear at her home.

"Yes, okay."

"Don't think I'm not gonna yell at you because you're being cooperative. You are getting one hell of an earful. Are you in the car yet?"

"Uh, I-"

"Get in your car," she barked before hanging up on him. The combination of sexual frustration and bona fide rage built a fire in her belly that spread all over. When Loki saw the zeal in her eyes crackling above her flame, he needed to take another deep breath. No matter how fast the agents arrived, it wouldn't be quick enough. He tried to ignore his lust for her and it proved immediately pointless. She handed her phone back to him, and even that simple action and the touch of their fingers turned him on. He made a conscious decision not to even look at her until everything was settled. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her examining the devices attached to her window. She was up on her toes with her hands against the brick. It didn't take long for him to turn his head completely, unable to follow his own orders.

A/N:

Wellll now we're getting somewhere :D

Uh, is anyone as jazzed for Crimson Peak as I am?


	18. Chapter 18: Flattered

Chapter Eighteen: Flattered

Natasha was visibly annoyed as she drove, her face stern like an upset school teacher. Sam would have much preferred being scolded over the accusing silence she was creating. He hadn't done anything wrong. He hadn't contacted Eve to warn her. He hadn't contacted anyone, for that matter, since the bugs were installed. Yet here he sat, reaping some silent punishment, feeling like a failure.

"Did Director Fury ask you not to yell at me so he could do all the yelling himself?" He asked as calmly as he could, though a pinch of resentment slipped through.

"Yelling? Why would either of us yell at you?" She remarked quickly.

"Because this plan went to shit."

"Is it _your_ fault the plan went to shit?"

"No, it's not, I didn't do anything wrong," he sprung to defend himself.

"That's odd," she said, "that you haven't done anything wrong, yet you're expecting to be reprimanded. I find that inconsistent. You're not thinking the way innocent people think."

"Sure I am! Don't start profiling me," he groaned, "because I don't want you thinking I had a hand in this. I know why you'd think I did, but I didn't. I'm simply assuming that _you're_ assuming I had something to do with this."

"Again, Sam, not the way innocent people think."

He sighed and leaned forward in his seat. "I don't know how she found out, maybe she really did notice them while taking out the trash."

"Please stop thinking about this like her friend. I was confident in your ability to be objective from the start. I suppose that was my mistake, but maybe it's just that you're not trying hard enough. Do me a favor and take just one step back. What she said made very little sense. The two of them were locked in a moment maybe three minutes before she called you. She seemed to be enjoying herself in said moment. So, let me tell you from experience, that you don't stop in the middle to take out the trash." Natasha thought back on how she had abandoned her last romantic interaction for her boss, and it seemed entirely different.

"But..what if she wasn't in the mood, or...feeling unhappy? Maybe she's second guessing entering into this fling-"

Natasha held up her hand to silence him. "You may not have done anything wrong here. Not intentionally, anyway. But you keep doing _this_. Looking for things that you _want_ to see instead of accepting what's there. I asked you to take a step back and you took two forward. You're trying to think like her, be in her head, rationalize her actions because she can do no wrong to you. She _has_ done wrong to you, and if she's cooperating with the enemy-she's done wrong to a lot of people."

"Why would she be cooperating? Maybe she-"

"Stop. This is why we installed the bugs, to get more insight. I don't know the answer to questions like that and neither do you, so stop pretending. Be reasonable. What she said didn't make any sense, and that's cause for alarm-end of story."

"But-"

"Sam. Stop."

"But-!"

"_Sam!_" She exclaimed. The point she was trying to make became irrelevant. If he really couldn't see it clearly, if he couldn't be objective...he was no longer useful. She set to brainstorming-how could she change that? She couldn't change his mind, so she would have to play into the mindset he was stuck in. If he acted the way he had at the initial interview again, they could potentially capture an argument before all the devices were removed. Anything Graham, or even Eve, said could prove useful. So she concocted a small, nasty statement to get under his skin. "You need to accept that she doesn't want you."

Sam's eyes hardened and wouldn't meet hers. As the seed she'd planted grew and engulfed him, a trap of truth, not once did she lean toward regret. For him to learn this and know it now instead of holding onto self-serving delusions would do him more good than he knew. Better to break his heart in one harsh movement than chip away at it until he crumbled.

_Elsewhere_

Eve opened the door with stony animosity. Seeing Natasha gave her a completely different feeling, unrelated to her anger. "Had to bring someone with you, Sam? Are you not authorized to do this yourself?"

"Well, I didn't install them," Sam snapped and it became clear he wasn't going to take his verbal punishment lying down.

"Had to have someone more qualified do that for you?" She glared until they entered and Natasha got straight to work without a word. Loki stood across the room, observing.

"We each have our own areas of expertise," Sam replied smugly, "yours seems to be in abandoning friendships when you've got a new boy toy."

"Oh yes, of course. I'm not at your beck and call for the better part of a week and that means I must have _abandoned_ you. You say that like we didn't speak at all." If she was being held hostage by a normal psychopath with no magic powers or heightened senses, the recording devices would have been a great idea. They'd have been able to drag him out by his ankles within minutes. Was SHIELD unaware that Loki could sense their technology? Sense their presence? Maybe they didn't know any more about him than she did. "And besides, how does that mean you get to install spy gear here?"

"Go ahead, Eve. Misinterpret this as me not trusting you. Take it like I had _any_ say in the matter-"

"I refuse to believe you had no opportunities to object."

"Fine. Fine, you're right. I could have gone against my powerful supervisors, told them it was a bad idea. But you know what? I would have been lying. This was a _great_ idea. Furthermore, it has nothing to do with you-"

"Nothing to do with me?!" She interjected, her voice raised to a shout. "This is my home!"

"It's your mother's home, first of all. Second of all-we're only interested in _him_."

"Who, me?" Loki jumped in, sounding shocked. "Well, I'm flattered."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Whatever. When Agent Romanov is finished, we'll be on our way and you two can go back to whatever it was you were doing."

Loki grinned and took a menacing step toward the angry man. "I think you know very well what we were doing, seeing as you were listening in."

Eve looked from Loki to Sam and examined her friend's face for telling clues. When he didn't respond, only frowned, she gasped. "You were...you were…" she started, unable to catch her breath now. Her thoughts escaped her one by one, slipping swiftly down a metallic drain of bitterness. The thought had crossed her mind, of course it had, but she never believed he would agree to listen in. She began to wonder if she knew him at all. He had this completely different life than what he'd told her, some secret government job, attractive Russian co-workers-and a bit of a temper. "_You_ were listening? That is just sick."

"No, Eve," he responded before looking back to Graham, "you're sick." He ignored her statement's validity, blinded by his own personal vendettas as usual.

"What have I done to deserve this?" Eve asked, voice high.

Sam turned to face her again. She stood tall and confident, her eyes glowed with a dramatic flare. He got close to her and fought his instincts to buckle and apologize, try to make her feel better, try to salvage their relationship. He could do those things later, if the time arose, but now it seemed more prudent to be honest and clear. "Eve. Whether you'll admit it or not, you've been dishonest with me. Whether it be about something small or something large, there are things you aren't telling me. I'm your best friend. Forget about the fact that maybe I'm hopelessly in love with you, forget about my baggage for just this one moment, and remember that I know you better than anyone. Arguably better than your own mother, though that's a different train of thought. If you think you can hide something from me and get away with it, you're sorely mistaken. The fact that you think you can pull the wool over my eyes sickens me more than one hundred rejections and dozens of one night stands with dipshit men."

Loki watched Eve's hardened exterior slowly erode with each brutally honest word. He saw in her a dangerous potential for failure and moved to her side swiftly to build her back up. He put his arm around her and made eye contact with Sam-the most threatening eyes he could muster. "I'm sorry, but, did you say you were in love with her?" Sam couldn't reply. He tried to look away, but Loki's eyes demanded his attention. "What a thing to say when she's here with her lover, when you've heard us together for however long you've been listening. Does she seem unhappy?" Sam opened his mouth to respond, Loki did not allow him to. "Do you aim to make her unhappy? Why, because she doesn't want to be with you? That seems one long step to the selfish side of things, doesn't it?" Eve clung to him and looked up, repeating in her mind, _Please stop, please stop, please stop_. If he was listening, he ignored her. "You'd better go help your comrade get the rest of those _things_. If you say one more harsh word to my Eve, you'll regret it."

At this time, Natasha strolled back into the front door. "No need for that, we're done here," she declared emotionlessly. Sam turned without another sound and left. Natasha smiled curtly at the couple before following him.

Eve and Loki stood in silence until the car sped off. Then she allowed herself an exasperated sigh.

"He wasn't lying," Loki chuckled, "he is _hopelessly_ in love with you."

"Do you have to be so cruel?" She spat as she wriggled out from under his arm.

"What? Firstly-yes, I do, it's the only way I know how to communicate. Secondly-you were being equally mean to him."

"I'm allowed to do that. Besides, I didn't stand there and pick at his insecurities!"

"I was merely trying to shut him up. You seemed distraught, and I didn't want you saying something foolish and blowing our cover."

"_Our_ cover?" she spat at him in disbelief. "Like we're in this together or something? Don't make me laugh. I've been a part of this against my will, and you know that very well."

"You didn't seem so unwilling on the counter this morning," he sneered with an evil grin.

She bit her lip and let sorrow overtake her. "It really is all just a game to you..." She remarked in a near whisper. "How can you tell where your fabricated emotions end and your real ones begin? I certainly can't tell the difference. I suppose that just speaks to your talent." She brushed past him and headed into the hall. She tried to extract the memories of his hands, his tongue, his body from her brain but they were too stubborn and kept springing back to sting her.

Loki followed her and grabbed her arm, holding her back. She refused to turn to him and just kept her arm taut, hoping that maybe he would release her. "Eve," he spoke and her name on his lips was like heaven, relaxing her, "I know it must be hard for you to see what's real and fake with all this hiding, all the falsehoods I've presented." He tugged gently on her arm and she faced him. "Let the other things fall away for now. Think your most private, honest thought. Don't lie to yourself and don't lie to me. Underneath the stress and panic, what's there?" He drew her in and touched his forehead to hers. Her thoughts filled his brain in a flurry, worries and hesitations, resentments and regrets, until one solitary notion remained.

_I want you._

He smiled. "I want you, too."

A/N:

Okay so the next chapter is going to be sexually explicit. No plot development except for the Avengers segment which will be at the end. So, if you're not comfortable with reading the sexy bits, skip to the _Elsewhere. _Don't skip the chapter entirely!


	19. Chapter 19: Touch

A/N: Just a friendly reminder that this chapter contains sexual content! If you're not cool with that, that's okay, there is no plot development included in it. Skip to the _Elsewhere_ at the bottom to avoid it.

Chapter Nineteen: Touch

Eve sighed dreamily. Her heart was beating fast as reality sunk in. The God of Mischief had claimed he'd wanted her. Any doubts she had were missing and every racing thought she expected to surface was silent. She believed him, and not just because she wanted to so very badly.

Loki detached his forehead from hers and kissed her full on the lips. His hands felt for her hips and gripped firmly, pressing until she was up against the wall. He kept her there and moved his lips so that he kissed the corner of her mouth, then her neck and then her collar bone. She squirmed beneath his hands and breathed evenly into his hair.

She began to adjust her arms so that she could feel his chest, but he stopped her and held her wrists against the wall, stuck at her side. She longed to touch him, explore his body once and for all. When his lips came back to meet hers, she relaxed and let the adrenaline pulse through her mind, clouding her thoughts. He nibbled her lip softly and slid his tongue into her mouth. His movements were fluid and certain, as though he'd been thinking about it since he met her. She snaked her tongue along his and it seemed to encourage him. His body pushed into hers hungrily and he released her wrists so he could hold either side of her neck-the way he had during their first kiss.

She rejoiced in her freedom and wrapped her arms around his lower back. She pulled him into her, eliminating any pockets of space between them. As she felt him grow hard up against her, her own urges grew stronger. She moved to grind her hips into his and realized she was already wet, already ready for him.

Loki soaked up the sensation of her skin of his fingertips. He planned to savor every delicious second of intimacy he shared with her. It felt as though he were opening up, no need to stand on ceremony, no call to pretend. He could just enjoy himself. Eve was a truly delightful kisser, she had an intuitive balance of passion and finesse. She kissed like she meant it, like she wanted nothing more. Still, he would give her _much _more_. _At last, with no eavesdroppers or distractions, they could capitalize on their electric tension.

Confidence surged through Eve. To desire and be desired in return had always made her feel exceptionally fearless. She gripped his wrists and repositioned them to her rib cage just below her breasts. She then took his chin and turned his face away decisively so she could trace her tongue along his sharp jawline. Her lips nestled into the space beneath his ear and kissed him there sweetly, and then more feverishly. As she dialed up the intensity, his hands began to knead and grope her flesh. Her shirt bunched up underneath his pressing fingers. When she allowed her tongue loose again to lick his ear lobe, his hands traveled at last to her breasts. As she was aching to be touched there, her head snapped away from him and turned to the side in pleasure. She sighed and leaned her chest into his touch.

He admired the sensuality she exuded and vowed internally to do everything in his power to keep her emanating such a glow. He fought the urge to blink and have her clothes disappear from her body entirely. Instead, he tugged at the bottom of her simple cotton shirt. As though reading his mind, she turned her eyes to his and gave an enticing smirk as she lifted her arms above her head. He removed the garment in one fluid motion and stood back to take her in. She was self-assured and unashamed as though she knew the effect she had on him. She took a step back into his personal space and loosened his tie until she could pull it over his head. When removed, she stuffed it loosely into his pocket and as she took her hand away she trailed it lightly against his hard on. He shuddered and grinned. She started on his buttons and returned to kissing his neck. His eyes were closed in bliss so he felt his way to her backside and drew her in flush to him.

When she had undone his last button, she slipped the shirt off his shoulders and it fell to the floor. She ran her hands along his chest. It was oddly cool, in a nice way, and his understated muscles fascinated her. He positioned her at arm's length from him and watched her eyes examine him eagerly. "Remove your undergarment," he demanded keenly as he stood back to enjoy the show.

Eve reached behind her and unclasped her bra slowly, teasing him. She slid the straps down to her elbows and held the cups steady in their place. "Take it off," he reiterated, clinging to his lone memory of her naked body until he could indulge in the sight again. She hesitated playfully and bit her lip. He met her halfway and reached out to graze his thumb along the fabric above her left nipple. He rubbed around it, applying more pressure with each stroke. When she moaned under her breath, he smirked. "Allow me to touch you without such a barrier," he coaxed.

To his delight, she gladly let it fall to the ground beside his shirt. He wasted no time in tending to her, running both hands up her curves until he cupped each breast in symmetry. He tilted toward her and brought one rosy bud into his mouth. He circled his tongue around it and her knees nearly buckled. He chuckled and swept her up in his arms to carry her to the bedroom. She was cradled into him, arms draped around his neck, like a princess to her devoted prince. He placed her on the bed and she fell back gracefully and beckoned him on top of her. His weight on her body delighted her. They kissed warmly until they snowballed into a physical frenzy, skin on skin contact energizing them.

Loki found the button on her jeans and undid it swiftly, pulling back after he drew down the zipper to yank down her pants and underwear all at once. He discarded them carelessly, having no use for them, and touched her thighs. He caressed her all over, as though searching for some treasure, until she sat up to undo his pants. All the while he massaged her shoulders, desperate to touch her as she did. She finished with the zipper but did not go any further. She leaned back on her elbows and looked on curiously. Before he proceeded, and there was no question that he should, he paused. "Tell me you want this," his voice was low and determined.

"I want this," she spoke without apprehension, and the verbal confirmation was all he needed to go on. He removed his pants and spread her legs apart. He felt full to bursting already, what with the tension between the two of them finally coming to a boil. He fought the urge to take her straight away, and instead knelt at the side of the bed and pulled her knees to the edge. He licked her once, and as his tongue rolled over her most sensitive spot, her legs quaked involuntarily. He swept his tongue across it again, doubling back in a small swirling motion and held her legs still. They twitched underneath his hands and it brought him immense joy. He continued to flick his tongue over and over in agonizingly slow motions and soon she was moaning and sighing. Her fingers tangled themselves in his hair and held on tight, pulling lightly to his amusement. He looked up at her for a moment and her free hand was clasped to her breast, tweaking her nipple to aid in her own satisfaction.

The sight was too much for him, and he couldn't hold back any longer. He stood and she sat up halfway, eyes glazed over and breaths coming heavy. He kissed her longingly and brushed the stray hairs off of her shoulders, all the while poised at her entrance and trembling with anticipation. When he entered her at last it was even better than he'd imagined. She was warm and accepting and she gasped as he slid inside her. He thrust again and she moaned, lifting her knees to accommodate him. He leaned into her and kissed her neck as he continued, allowing her moans to float right into his ear. Each sound she made was louder and more invested than the last. He moved to suck on her nipple as he massaged the opposite breast and her hands clung to his shoulders. He increased speed slightly and couldn't help but moan himself when her nails dug into his flesh.

"Oh, Eve," he breathed almost involuntarily and he accelerated his pace again.

The heat beneath her stomach was all-consuming and spread to every inch of her in turn, eventually all at once. She writhed and bucked her hips into him, approaching climax sooner than she'd ever experienced. He was hitting the exact right spot with each new plunge and when she heard her name slip from his mouth in passion, it drove her over the top. As she convulsed, spasms echoing down her arms and legs, she cooed into his ear, "Oh, Loki."

_Elsewhere_

Natasha shared a knowing look with Barton, and they removed their headsets like synchronized spies. "I _told_ you the bedroom window would be the best place to leave one behind!" She gloated with a wide smile. "You wanted me to leave one of the ones on the kitchen window behind!"

"Yes, okay, you were right, I was wrong, and we'll all bow down to the all-knowing Agent Romanov," Barton quipped happily. He looked over to Sam who had yet to remove his headset, and sat hunched over, staring ahead of him blankly. "Barrows!" He shouted into his headset's microphone, causing him to jump. "Don't look so glum. We're gonna go get him. Right now."

A/N (part two):

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's a big turning point in lots of ways. Took me a while to get it to the perfect place, lots of rewriting, lots of taking things out and putting things in then taking them out anyway. Now things get super crazy, and I really can't wait!


	20. Chapter 20: Make Her Happy

Chapter Twenty: Make Her Happy

When Loki realized what was to come, it was already too late. Eve was asleep and clung to his chest while he lay awake. She had been thoroughly exhausted by their escapades and fell into an afternoon slumber easily-after making it perfectly clear how much she'd enjoyed herself, of course. Lounging in her bed with her naked body sprawled around him, he felt at peace. It was a feeling he yearned to replicate, and had been trying to create in the first place for some time. If this mortal girl could start off with the idea that he was a monster-which, by most accounts, he _was_-and eventually come to cherish his company, that meant hope wasn't entirely lost. He entertained thoughts of mending his relationship with his brother and someday his faux father. While on a completely different plane of thought, all things seemed possible, but only for a transient moment.

As he was nursing notions of simply staying with Eve and growing their bond forever, he felt something troubling. A nagging sensation at the pit of his mind he'd been ignoring. One recording device left behind. And then the floodgates opened, SHIELD was on their way. Mere minutes from the house. He allowed himself a long second to take his lover in, every little thing about her. Hair, lips, shoulders, chest, waist, hips, legs-but there was no time. He kissed her once on the forehead and teleported away, the taste of her still lingering in his mouth.

Eve awoke as her body fell into the space he'd abandoned. She didn't understand at first, not even after her front door opened abruptly, not even after it wasn't Loki who came into the bedroom.

"Where is he?" Barton barked at her, unaffected by her nudity.

She shook the sleep out of her eyes ineffectively. Her mind remained in the euphoria that existed thirty minutes prior. While the situation at hand troubled her, her muddled thoughts kept coming back to asking herself the same question the hawk had just presented. Where was he? "Who are you?" She asked as she pulled the comforter up over herself hastily and yawning.

Barton glared at her as though she weren't taking the situation seriously and repeated, "Where is he?"

"I don't know," she told him honestly as she ran her hand along the space he'd previously occupied. It was still warm.

"What do you mean you don't know?" He snapped as Natasha strolled in the room. Her presence brought a thin ray clarity to Eve's muddled mind. "Search the house," he instructed. She nodded and left. Meanwhile, Barton threw open the closet and rifled through Eve's things. She made no move to stop him as she was equally curious about Loki's whereabouts. It seemed unlikely that he was crouched in the closet next to her spare sheets and winter boots, but not impossible. She'd recently discarded the word _impossible_ from her vocabulary. When his search came up empty, he turned to her again. "Where is he? Where did he go?"

"I told you, I don't know."

He pointed an accusing finger at her. "I don't know if you think I won't hurt a naked woman, but-"

Tony entered the room casually, laughing. "You and Banner should trade skill sets," he chuckled, "because I like you when you're angry." Barton gave him a cold stare until he went on. "There's no one else here," he remarked, "looks like our little magician went _poof_." He began to leave again, shouting as he went. "Cap! You and the other guys do a sweep of this block and those around it. If you don't find anything, meet us back at HQ."

In the distance, Bruce could be heard snickering. "_HQ_ sounds so goddamn lame, man."

Barton turned back to Eve, who was clutching her comforter to her and looking only mildly alarmed. "Why aren't you more concerned about strangers in your house?" He narrowed his eyes at her, visibly frustrated.

"I guess I'm just accustomed to it."

_Elsewhere_

Loki was now disguised as another man entirely. He'd let go of Graham's persona when he left and fashioned himself a new cover on the fly. The thought had crossed his mind to change genders or races, but it didn't matter. He kept the protection spell active in an aura around himself. They wouldn't be able to find him if they were in the same room, he was much too strong now. He realized then that he'd been strong enough to leave that morning. He could have threatened her and told her to claim Graham had broken it off suddenly. She would have listened, fear was a powerful thing. He hadn't done that for a few reasons, one of them being that he wasn't even checking his abilities to be certain he could go. He hadn't wanted to go. He knew the SHIELD agents would take Eve, and it bothered him. Not that she could give them much insight to his plans. Hell, _he_ couldn't give them much insight to his plans. He had none to speak of. His only notion resided in convincing Eve he hadn't used her and left, assuring her that he would be back in her life when it became appropriate.

He handed the woman he stood before several bills, currency he'd stolen effortlessly from a man on the street before ducking into a restroom and teleporting to where he was now. He counted the notes he had left, more than enough for clothing and sustenance.

"Thank you," she said with a kind smile.

"You are most welcome," he responded as he picked up his prize. He chuckled heartily. "Gotta keep my girl happy," he joked, "and this will certainly make her happy."

_Agent Romanov's Car_

Eve rode in the backseat, her hands cuffed behind her. Natasha drove and Barton pouted in the passenger seat. She felt as though she were in a dream, everything was happening too quickly for her to keep up. They'd packed a suitcase for her and thrown an outfit her way so she could clothe herself. Then it was all handcuffs and being led out to the car. But of all the things she'd imagined coming of her time with the God of Mischief, this was oddly not one of them. The scenario at hand was still more likely than her sleeping with him, though, and that had happened first. She had considered the repercussions involving her relationship with Sam, and that was as far as her thoughts outside her own home had gone. Even though other people had been involved, looking for Loki from the start, it had never factored in. She'd assumed Loki would leave eventually and her life would drift back into normalcy. As silly as it seemed now, how could she anticipate an end to an unpredictable, unbelievable turn of events? The next time an Asgardian descended into her midst uninvited, she would be prepared. "Am I under arrest?" She asked as calmly as she could manage.

"If you don't cooperate, you're going to wish you were," Barton spoke seriously.

"I'm flattered you felt the need to handcuff me when freaking Iron Man is in the car behind us. Wait. Is he _in_ the car or is _he_ the car?"

Natasha held back a smile and Barton glared at her. "We know you're a trained fighter," she went on to say, "so we're not taking any chances."

The ride continued in silence, forcing Eve to face her fears. Forget the trouble she was potentially in, forget the upcoming interrogations, she'd take them as they came. At her center, she felt betrayed. Cast aside. Deserted. She didn't want to believe that Loki had fled with no concern for her, but it seemed all too plausible. As the scenery rolled by her window, mostly buildings and cars, she sunk into a sullen sadness. She had grown to care for him during their time, and in hindsight, without his captivating eyes on her, it seemed foolish. She had been gullible to the point of embarrassment. She had been a pawn in his plan. An accessory to whatever dastardly deeds he would go on to do. Not that she could have stopped him, but she didn't have to make his stay so pleasurable. The more she thought on it, the more her heart sank.

They led her inside the tower, and one long elevator ride later out into a long hallway. "You will stay here until we have no further use for you," Natasha stated as they walked. "You're going to tell us all you know, everything you've learned about him. You're going to help us find him."

"I don't know where he went," she sighed and her voice reflected her grief.

"That may be true, but any little thing you know could help us. We're going to drop your belongings in your room and get started right away," Natasha said.

"Plus, I get the feeling he may not be too thrilled about the fact that we're holding you here," Barton scoffed, mocking.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eve bit, already not a fan of his.

"Clearly he developed some sort of weird attachment to you, either that or he really played you big time."

Eve scowled at him. What hurt the most was that it echoed her own internal battle, the negative side of which was currently racing to victory. "He won't care, he never cared. He told me nothing, he trusted me with nothing. I doubt he'll bat an eye or even care enough to know where I am."

Natasha looked sad for her for a fleeting moment. Her expression returned to its classic stoicism before long. They stopped in front of a door with the word _SUSPECT_ on the name plate. "Hold on," Barton flared as he threw his ear against it. Natasha mimicked him. "What is that?" He asked. "It's sort of like a yipping sound." Natasha drew her gun and nodded for him to proceed. He swept his key card across the sensor and threw the door open. What they found required no gunshots or harsh measures. Eve squealed in delight, unable to hold back. She crouched down and the collie puppy ran to her. She cooed at it sweetly, unable to pet it. She swung her legs underneath her and the pup ran around her in rapid circles, producing more _yip_'s. Natasha holstered her weapon, knelt down beside her and giggled, helpless against the animal's charm. She pet it and felt for any abnormalities. All she found was a green velvet collar that graced its neck, and the bone-shaped name tag that hung from it which read _Sasha_.


	21. Chapter 21: No Fun

Chapter Twenty-One: No Fun

Eve sat still as the canine jumped up on her lap and licked her face. She laughed at first and then became quiet, still smiling, when Sasha pulled away and stared at her with her tail wagging. This gift was more than just a gesture. It felt like a promise. Loki had gone out of his way to make her know she was in his thoughts, and he'd done it the second he left. Now his disappearance was less ambiguous, she saw that he was running from SHIELD, not her. Sasha provided more comfort than she'd imagined she'd get when being held and questioned. It occurred to her that maybe she wouldn't be allowed to keep the pup, and she looked first to Barton. His face was stern and shocked. She turned quickly to Natasha who had taken a liking to the dog almost immediately.

Natasha smiled at her and looked up at Barton, schemes swirling behind her eyes. "Oh, no," he spoke up, taking a step back. "I don't think so."

She stood and pulled him down the hall, leaving Eve alone and longing to pet her new best friend. "What's the harm in it?" She asked.

"Allow me to answer your question with one of my own. Where did it come from? We have to assume Loki dropped it off for her. That means he was literally in this building. The man is taunting us. Besides, she doesn't deserve to be rewarded," he gestured toward their captive, who paid him no attention.

"Let's be fair. We don't know she wasn't under hypnosis, we don't know what he was threatening her with. Put yourself in her place. You're powerless, weaponless and you don't understand your adversary."

"You know what I definitely _don't_ do? Fuck the guy!"

At this, Eve's head turned to them. Natasha pushed him further down the hall. "Hey! I get why you're upset. I'm not thrilled. We need to get the missing pieces before we pass judgment. If anyone who's made a mistake is automatically worthy of your hostility, you'd better start being real callous toward me too. And add yourself to that list while you're at it."

Down the hall, Eve was trying to enjoy her time with Sasha in case it proved temporary. Her head turned when casual footsteps approached her from the way they'd come. Tony Stark, now out of his armor, looked at her, and then the puppy, then back to her. "How did you end up alone in the hallway? Jeez, if this is how Clint handles all of his assignments, I'm not surprised Loki escaped."

Eve felt a familiar tingle sweep down her spine. She felt a delayed version of being starstruck, which was coupled by shame due to their first meeting in her bedroom. "They're just down there," she tilted her head toward them, unable to point.

Tony squinted, though they weren't far enough away to warrant it. "And this is?" He dipped down to pet the puppy. He lifted her name tag in his fingers. "Sasha, huh? Where did she come from?"

"Oh, don't all the rooms have one? I assumed it was my welcoming present," she joked, earning a low chortle fro him.

"Green collar...seems like someone wanted your stay to be enjoyable." Barton and Natasha headed back toward them. "You didn't tell us where to meet you," Tony went on.

Barton entered the open door to check for anything else Loki may have left behind. He returned a couple minutes later, looking annoyed, though that was no surprise. "He also left anything you could ever possibly need to care for a dog. Food, water, toys, a bed, newspaper, leash...it's just a giant pile of green accessories."

"Check inside the food bag, check everything for anomalies," Natasha advised. He turned and went back to the items. "Meet us in the conference room," she called to him after a moment's pause. As she helped Eve up, Eve looked anxiously at Sasha. "Get the dog," she instructed Tony, voice hushed. Tony scooped the pup into his arms without a single hesitation and stroked its fur as they walked. "We'll discuss what's to become of her later, okay?" She added rhetorically, squeezing Eve's shoulder briefly.

Eve nodded in response. Why was she being so kind? It was most likely a front to coerce her into cooperating. Not that she had much of a choice. They arrived at the conference room and sat her at the head of the table. "Do I still need to be cuffed?" She asked, trying to make herself sound as pathetic as possible-it wasn't a challenge.

"Oh yeah," Tony laughed, "like you're any match for us. God, even Natasha here could rip you in half, and she doesn't even have robot arms."

"What do you mean _even _Natasha?" Natasha glared at him. "If I remember correctly-"

"Ah! Well, no need to cite specific instances...you're right, you're way tougher than me. Anyway," he transitioned smoothly and unlocked Eve's handcuffs. She twisted her wrists around in front of her and stretched. She was allowed to do this for about twelve seconds before Tony grabbed one wrist and Natasha grabbed the other and forced them down onto the table. Tony hit a button underneath and Eve's eyes widened as two thick, curved metal restraints swung up from behind panels in the table, trapping her wrists yet again.

"Seriously? Really? _Really_?"

"Seriously, really, really," Tony confirmed with a smug look.

"What do you think I'm going to do exactly?" Eve begged to know as she kept eye contact with the steel that held her.

"We don't know. Better safe." More Avengers began to trickle into the room, along with a few people Eve didn't remember ever seeing on TV. They took seats and across from her at the opposite side of the table sat a very threatening black man with...was that...an eye patch? When Barton joined them and everyone was situated, it was that man who spoke first.

"Thank you all for joining us," Fury began in his trademark booming voice, "If today's meeting goes well, and I swear to _god_ it better, we should be on our way to capturing Loki once and for all. Any questions before we begin?"

"Yeah," Tony piped up, earning an exaggerated eye roll from the director, "shouldn't we make sure everyone's acquainted? Make this just a tad friendlier?"

"You want us to be _friendly_," Fury groaned. This was definitely not a question. "Is that a _dog_?" He shouted, standing and gesturing for emphasis, when he noticed Sasha.

"Yeah, well, that development kinda goes toward the end of the story. We'll get there," Tony nodded until Fury's blazing glare forced him to stop.

"No freaking way!" Darcy beamed as she noticed the puppy. "Can I hold her?"

Tony looked to Eve for permission. Eve's mouth hung open for a second too long, surprised, before she spoke. "Yeah, totally, sure, go ahead!"

Tony set Sasha down onto the table and she looked overwhelmed. Darcy cooed and kissed at her until she sprinted her way, slipping and sliding on her paws. "Best meeting _ever_!" Darcy exclaimed as she cuddled the dog.

"What the _fuck_ is going on?" Fury screamed, exasperated. Several members of the group began explaining to him at once, and before long the conversation devolved into a scattered mess of jumbled, irrelevant words.

Eve sat perfectly still and observed. She noticed one thing missing from this excessively strange scenario. Sam. She wasn't given long to think about it, though, as her attention was soon drawn to something much more pressing. She felts hands on her shoulders and when she turned to look, Loki was standing next to her.

"Don't say anything," he said. His voice calmed her to no end. "And don't look directly at me. They can't see me, or hear me. I won't be able to stay too long, this illusion drains my magic if I keep it up for extended periods of time. Just think your responses to me."

_Okay,_ she thought, _it's very good to see you. Very, very good._

"I'm flattered that you miss me. We'll be together before long, I'll make sure of it. Now, you need to be honest with these people. SHIELD agents are trained to know when someone is lying or withholding information. Just tell the truth. It won't get them any closer to locating me, I guarantee it."

_The truth? Even about how I actually started falling for you? _She was given no time to carefully phrase her words, her thoughts were out in the open for him.

Loki was silent. Their physical attraction was one thing. What she thought there, well, that was another level entirely. He had assumed she felt that way, she certainly acted like it. But to hear her think it brought him more joy than he'd anticipated. It caught him off guard, knocked him back. He stared at her as she pretended to observe the various tiffs going on around the room and couldn't help himself. Instead of verbally returning her sentiment, he chose a more physical approach. He kissed her cheek and then her neck, taking care not to move her in any unnatural, noticeable ways. She bit her lower lip to keep from smiling and it spurred him on. He was soon venturing a hand and kneading his fingertips into her thighs where no one could see. The sight of her in restraints turned him on, though he wished that he'd been the one to put them there. He continued to kiss her gently, steadily as he moved his fingers further up and rubbed in between her legs. She lurched forward slightly and struggled to keep her eyes ahead. She choked down sighs and moans, and he found himself wanting to crack her open. Though her hardened exterior was for his own benefit, the sport of it seemed all too appealing. He dug in deeper until she was grinding into his touch. Her eyes scanned the room to make sure no one was paying attention. They were all engrossed in their own conversations, and she was tempted to let go of the paranoia and just enjoy herself. Her hands twitched periodically and her movements became less and less subtle.

_That feels so good, _she thought, _but you have to stop, I can't keep quiet much longer_.

"You're no fun," he whispered directly in her ear. He removed his hand. She let out a relieved sigh, though her relief turned out to be premature. Loki only slid his hand out to undo the button on her pants and slip his hand in under her underwear. His fingers found her button with ease and made way to torture her. Her breaths became heavy as she tried to remain in control. He rubbed more fiercely and she closed her eyes. When it became too much, she couldn't help but let a small noise free. Yet he didn't stop, in fact he curved his hand until his fingers were inside her. The next sound she made was not so quiet.

Tony's eyes snapped to hers suspiciously. "You doing alright there?" He asked as his eyes narrowed, and the rest of the room grew silent.

Loki was gone in a heartbeat, his evil snicker reverberating in her ears, and Eve was left unfulfilled with her pants unbuttoned-and no way to fix either problem. "Just peachy," she murmured.

A/N:

Can't decide whether or not to hash out their entire meeting. Is that something you guys would want to read? If not I can summarize it well, and then something important(ish) happens at the end, so I'd detail that bit and move on. The meeting would be mostly Avengers banter, which is always fun, but no Loki. Let me know if you have a preference.. if no one cares either way, I'll have to go with what I feel like in the moment.


	22. Chapter 22: Stuck

Chapter Twenty-Two: Stuck

Now that Eve had everyone's undivided attention, the situation rapidly returned to its previously high levels of intimidation. She cleared her mind, wiping away the foggy lust-driven dust that coated her thoughts. She kept Loki's advice at the forefront, _tell the truth_. She met everyone's eyes around the table until her gaze came back to Tony, who had that same befuddled look plastered on his face.

Before taking his seat once more, Fury looked around the table sternly and said, "Why don't we go ahead and do something productive now. Hmm?"

"Right!" Tony affirmed too enthusiastically. "Eve, this is Cap, Thor, Jane,_ Nick_," Fury gave him a devilish stare, "Darcy, and of course you know Sasha," Tony ignored him and peppered in a nonchalant chuckle, "Bruce, Natasha and Clint." He had pointed to each person as he went around. Darcy was the only one to wave at her, and she even wiggled Sasha's paw in a wave. "And, well," he gestured to himself, "you know who I am."

Eve forced a small laugh in the hopes that this turn of events would distract from any suspicions anyone held about her involuntary noises. It mattered very little, anyway. If she gave them a hundred years and infinite guesses, they would never guess that her Asgardian lover, shielded from their sight by his spells, was pleasuring her with his adept fingers. Her eyes drifted to Thor and Jane as they leaned into each other and smiled. It appeared these aliens had a taste for mortals. She wondered if Thor appeared one day in her kitchen, and then promptly shook the thought from her head.

The door opened and Sam strolled in, holding various plastic bags, which he placed in front of her before leaving. He made no eye contact, simply came and went without speaking to anyone. Natasha spread the bags out so Eve could see them clearly. She stretched the fingers on her left hand out as far as they would reach, but she only skimmed the edge of the first bag. Inside sat the chunk of ceramic he'd threatened her with. "Did you..take this out of the trash?" She asked everyone at once, not sure who exactly to address.

"It was in his pants pocket. You recognize it?" Barton pulled the bag toward him only slightly, so her fingers couldn't graze it anymore.

"Yes," she answered, keeping her eyes on the shard as she experienced a quick but thorough flashback summarizing her first encounter with Loki. "It actually segways very nicely into how this all started." She told them about the first day, then went on from there when no one stopped her. She detailed his threats, his vagueness, his cruelty, and her literal knee-jerk reaction in the kitchen. She explained that she did _try_ to retrieve her phone, but was caught. She arrived at the day Sam stopped over unannounced and something was holding back her words. A curiosity. She tried to push past it. "I knew that Sam would," she paused, "I knew that if I didn't text him all night, that, that he," another pause, "Sam has always-" she trailed off entirely. When she looked up, she looked to Natasha. "Is he listening?"

"That's not for you to know," Fury warned.

Still, Eve's eyes were fixed on Natasha. The redhead gave her the subtlest of nods and she found inspiration to go on. "Sam has always been there for me. I knew he would worry, I knew he would come check on me, because that's what he's always done. But when he showed up, Loki threatened to kill us both if I let him in or told him anything. So I had to be cold and harsh and try to get him to leave. I know that I hurt him, and that he must have been so frustrated…"

"We're _all_ a little frustrated," Fury interjected, "move on."

She obliged and disclosed the fact that Loki had her phone and insisted on using it himself, still trying to get through to Sam. She listed detail after detail, how they had to be together all the time, how his moods were wildly unpredictable. "If I was too quiet, he would poke and prod at me until I lost my temper. Then, when I did, he would scold me, call me brash and stupid. He seemed bored with my company and keen to play with my emotions…" She moved on to discuss the moment she finally lost control. "In one instance, he was really picking on my relationship with Sam. He made me cry, which could have been partly due to exhaustion. Or maybe not. Anyway, I punched him."

Thor shot forward, as though suddenly invested in what she was saying. "You _punched_ him? My brother? Loki?"

"Yes, I-"

"Where?"

"In the face." The room erupted into rolling laughter.

"Did he take it well?" Thor smiled broadly.

"He must have been shocked, he fell right back. I was able to-"

"You knocked him down? My brother?"

"Loki, yes, I knocked him down."

Tony was curled over, his forehead resting on the cool tabletop. "No wonder he needed an army!"

Eve fought the urge to defend herself. She wasn't sure how many of them knew she was more than able to pack a powerful punch, and she wasn't exactly able to prove herself at the time. So she smiled along with them, hoping to curry favor in some way. Fury calmed them all down and motioned for her to continue. "Well, I grabbed my phone and ran to the bathroom. I dialed Sam as I was getting the window open, but I didn't have enough time. That was when I used the word _Chitauri_ and the meeting was set up." They asked her countless questions about his plans, anything he'd implied, and she honestly had no answers for them. She told them he disguised himself, which was a given, and told her to follow his lead.

"So, when he kissed you," Natasha prompted.

"I was shocked," Eve answered truthfully. "Beyond shocked."

"Did you enjoy it?" Barton demanded.

_Tell the truth_ ghosted through her mind. She couldn't. "No."

"Not at all?"

"I was stuck. I couldn't have stopped it."

"No one's talking about you stopping him, okay? The question I asked was-did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy being kissed by him?"

"I answered you," Eve felt a glimmer of panic brewing in her gut. She shouldn't have lied. But how could she have told the truth? Admit to loving every second of it? Missing his lips the second they left hers? It was nonsensical, it made her look like a complete idiot.

"Say it again. Say it like you mean it this time."

"You act like I opened the sky and led those monsters to the city!" Eve shouted, officially tired of Barton's constant glares and obvious dislike of her despite knowing nothing about her. "You act like I welcomed him into my home, willingly tricked you and all your associates. Yes, okay? I enjoyed that kiss. And the ones that followed, while we were playing nice for your listening ears. Did you ever consider that I _had_ to enjoy it? One false move, he'd say, one side step and he'd snap my neck," her eyes welled up with tears that sat until she blinked. "Maybe I was tricking myself, as a defense mechanism, to stay alive. I had no choice." Her statements left a rigid silence in the room, forcing her to think on her own words. Maybe what she felt...maybe none of it was real. Maybe she was sick in the head, drowning in tricks and lies. So he brought her the puppy, so he came back to coach her. Really, what he'd just done to her had been torture. Fun, sure. But still. Hashing out all the things he'd done to her, listing them one after the other, made it clear he was no Prince Charming. And she wasn't even done with the list. "I'll tell you everything I know, everything he ever said to me. If I knew where he was or what he was planning, I would tell you. I would scream it to anyone who would listen." She told them the rest as she knew it. At the end, her story was fairly thorough, but she had left out every moment of intimacy, every time she'd admired his body, every stolen glance and the irresistible electricity when he touched her. Most importantly, she left out their heated intercourse. She didn't know they'd left a recording device behind and heard everything, she had no idea how they'd even discovered it was Loki with her for sure. She hadn't asked those questions, being in no position to.

"That's it?" Barton piped up, knowing the true ending. Eve nodded and Natasha looked concerned. "You were naked when we found you, kiddo."

"I can vouch for that," Tony added, winking at her.

"We need to start inviting Pepper to these meetings," Steve shot him a look, "maybe that way he'll cut that out."

"Pepper _is_ invited, she's just much too busy being important and successful in the real world," Tony responded.

Eve sat in silence, hoping this distraction was enough to move the conversation along. Barton wasn't going to allow that. "Address your nudity," he stated decisively.

"Well," she paused, planning out her lie. Her eyes moved across the other plastic bags that contained articles of clothing. "Loki knew you guys were coming, he thought it would be believable that Graham left after having sex with me, so he scattered clothes-"

"I'm not interested in having my time wasted," Barton stopped her. "It amazes me that you think we don't already know what happened."

No one spoke for a long moment. Darcy leaned forward and caught Barton's eye. "The suspense is killing me. What did happen?"

The door swung open and Sam entered once more, holding a small device that resembled a speaker. He pressed a button and set it down. The sounds that came from it were obviously sexual, and Eve took too long to recognize her own moans and sighs-most likely in denial. She opened her mouth to defend herself, claim they had no way to prove it was her. Just then, her voice emerged from the gadget, unmistakable, saying "Oh, Loki."

The only people in the room whose jaws didn't hit the ground were Natasha, Barton, Sam and Fury.

Darcy looked around, obviously thrilled. "Best. Meeting. Ever."

A/N:

Sorry for the wait, I've been so busy! I got a job in my field finally and I've been doing all that super fun pre-employment stuff, as well as going out and having fun before I actually have to start. But I know my schedule is going to be sporadic at first, so it won't interfere with my ability to keep this story up. Also, don't worry, Loki will be back before you know it :P


	23. Chapter 23: Still Alive

Chapter Twenty-Three: Still Alive

Eve felt the trails her tears had left on her cheeks drying. Though those tears of anger and frustration were gone now, their remains stung. She felt like she looked childish or weak, yet she had no way to wipe the stains from her face. She forced her eyes to meet Sam's. He looked so upset, it broke her heart in dozens of places. Her mind traveled back to the way Loki had made her feel, and it was a good feeling. She had experienced pleasure and passion, desire and drive. Sex with mortal boys had never been like that. The way Loki treated her when they were together that way, it was obvious he had been alive far longer than her. He was intuitive and took his time. She reluctantly rejoined the moment at hand and was sickened by the sound of herself. Sickened by the way everyone was looking at her. "Please turn that off," she begged him as the recording rolled on.

"Gladly," he bit before slamming his finger onto what was apparently the power button.

"The things people will do when they think no one is watching…" Fury mused, making aggressive eye contact when her eyes moved to his. "So, tell me, Eve. Was anything you told us the truth?"

"Yes. All of it," she insisted.

"What else did you leave out, then?" Eve was silent. "Do you sympathize with the psycho? Or are you just one of those girls who has a thing for bad boys?"

"Think what you want," she said, "the truth would sound worse than any assumption you could make."

"I highly doubt that…" Tony commented.

"For once, I agree with him," Fury stood. "And now I'm even _more_ curious. Please, enlighten us."

Eve gulped. _Tell the truth_. "I need you to understand first and foremost that I don't agree with what he's done. Not any of it. He has treated me badly, held me captive and threatened me. But I'm still alive, somehow…"

"Oh, don't tell me," Barton rolled his eyes.

"I don't know how it happened. It makes no sense, so don't ask me to explain any further. I...I care about him."

"Jesus _fucking_ Christ!" Barton stood as well, causing her to turn her attention to him. "How dense are you, exactly? You think he cares about you in return? When he fled, he left you to deal with us. If he cared, don't you think he'd have taken you with him? Made some grand gesture, like, Eve-run away with me!"

"I didn't say that he cared about me…" she took a deep breath.

"How can you-" he stopped abruptly. "Why can't you see how insane that is?"

"I _can_," she spoke through gritted teeth, "and maybe that's why I didn't want to tell you!" She grew frustrated, eventually realizing how claustrophobic being glued to the table made her feel. She pulled her arms up against the metal, knowing it wouldn't do any good. She had absolutely no range of motion. "Will somebody get these damned things off me? Please?!"

Natasha reached out and squeezed her hand. "We should take a recess. She's been through a lot."

"Fine," Fury agreed, "take her to her room, meet us back here. Everyone, take a ten minute break."

Tony hit the button to release her and she stretched her arms and wrists the second they were free. Natasha led her out of the room quickly with a firm grip on her upper arm. She smiled as they walked.

"Why are you so nice to me?" Eve wondered. She felt pretty pathetic, having had her dirty laundry aired in front of the coolest people in New York.

"I haven't always been a good guy," Natasha began with a small sigh, "and I know what it's like to fall for someone who's no good for you."

"Oh?"

"That was a long time ago. Well, you know I'm not Loki's biggest fan. In fact, I don't think that man has _any_ fans. He deserves to be punished for what he's done. But I'm not about to take that out on you. You're right, you didn't ask for any of this to happen to you. I imagine your brain is fairly busy."

"You have no idea," Eve shook her head.

"Make no mistake," Natasha pointed a warning finger, "I don't support your fantasy. Your brain is busy because you know it's _wrong_. Loki is a bad man, Eve, and there's no way around it. I'm hoping you can learn something from your time here. Even if Barton is rude, he's right. There's no way Loki cares about you the same way you do for him. It's not fair for you to hold on to this. Especially not when you have someone in your life who really does care for you," she swiped her keycard over the scanner and gave Eve a gentle nudge into her room. "I'm not saying you have to date Sam or anything. But you deserve something more real than this. Let go of it, really think about it, but don't dwell. You'll see." She turned to leave, but stopped herself. She looked down at Eve's pants. "Your, uh, button…"

Eve blushed and bit her lip. "Oh! I must have missed it. God, I hope no one noticed!" She laughed nervously until Natasha gave her a polite smile and left. The door slammed heavily and out of curiosity, she tried to open it. Locked. Shocking. She checked out the bathroom to her right. The room was almost like a hotel room with just one queen sized bed-and a mound of trinkets for Sasha. She went to sit down on the bed and her eyes shot to the door, startled as it opened again.

Darcy strolled in and set the puppy she'd been cuddling down. She ran on her short legs to Eve, yipping and wagging her tail. "Figured you might want this back," she joked.

"Thanks," Eve was quiet.

"You don't look so hot," Darcy noticed.

"It's been a very long week," Eve sighed, "which you now know all about. I'm kind of a disaster."

"Are you kidding?!" Darcy exclaimed. "You're like my hero...screwing bad guys, shouting at Barton. Punching people, getting handcuffed by SHIELD. I was lucky they even gave me an access card. Shit, I wanna be you when I grow up."

"Trust me, you definitely don't."

Darcy laughed. "Whatever. Listen, things will get better. Eventually. Probably not soon. But, well, I have to get back. Keep your head up, okay?"

As she made her way out, Eve mumbled an unconvinced, "Okay…"

_Elsewhere_

When Darcy took her seat back in the conference room, Fury cleared his throat. "Did you…"

"Did I…?" She echoed.

"Did you take that dog to her?"

"Uh, _yeah_. It's her dog." Darcy rolled her eyes at Jane, who smiled weakly.

"What do you mean it's _her_ dog?"

Tony cleared his throat now. "It's funny, because you asked about the dog earlier, and I said we'd get to it, but I guess we never did. Well...remember that bit where they went off to that random farm and there were puppies? That's one of them."

"We let her bring her dog?" Fury barked.

"Not so much…" Tony, and everyone else, waited patiently for it to sink in.

Fury's face contorted as he put the pieces together. His nostrils flared. Wide. "So you're telling me...that he was here. In this building. And he found out what room we were going to keep her in. And he brought her...a _dog_…"

"Along with many, many dog supplies," Barton added angrily.

"AND THIS IS THE FIRST I'M HEARING ABOUT IT?! This is ridiculous. This is unacceptable. It's preposterous. Obnoxious. It's-"

"How many more adjectives should we expect? I have dinner plans," Tony quipped.

Fury took a moment to concentrate on his breathing. "Okay. Okay, let's just move forward. Impressions?"

"She's completely out of her mind," Barton offered immediately.

"I think she's pretty cool," Darcy added, throwing a sneer in his direction.

Barton pointed at her. "That's proof in itself."

Darcy looked to Jane, mouth open in offense. Jane smiled awkwardly. "He has a point, Darc…"

"Agent Barrows!" Fury shouted to Sam, who had taken Eve's seat. "Impressions?"

"None," Sam replied murkily.

"None at all?"

"That's the same girl I've known for my entire life, sir. Impulsive, outspoken..._man_. That is just the worst thing about this. If she were acting weird or anything, I could dismiss it...but she's just...herself. Hot-headed and..._man_." Sam slouched back in the chair and zoned out. He was still fitting the pieces together in his head, the texts that weren't really from her, the strange phone call. Then the ugliest detail of all, the fact that she actually liked the creep.

"Now, we're _sure_ she's not under hypnosis?" Steve asked.

"I can go knock her on the head really quick if you like," Bruce offered mockingly.

"She's not," Barton answered. "I would know. She's just mental, that's all."

"Okay, okay," Natasha stood and knocked her fists on the table, "haven't any of you heard of Stockholm Syndrome?"

"Yes. It's a _syndrome_. Syndromes are indicative of diseases. She's _nuts_," Barton, visibly annoyed, rubbed his forehead briefly.

"Stop that. She even reflected the idea of it while she was explaining how she liked kissing him, that maybe she subconsciously forced herself to like it in order to cope with the trauma."

"Or-" Barton almost sang.

"Fine! Maybe she's crazy. Sure, let's call her all the names in the book. Or! We could help her. She is above all else a victim of circumstance. She _didn't_ seek him out, she _doesn't_ condone his behavior. She was trapped in her own home with him for days on end, fearing for her life. Yes, her sanity has probably taken some pretty bad hits. Can you blame her? Put yourself in her place-"

"You asked me to do that before, remember?" Barton shouted.

"Well I'm not just talking to you! My point is, now that she's away from him, we can get her better. Get her over him, and maybe find some secret something he said to her that will help us figure this out. She's not going to talk to us if she hates us or thinks we hate her, and we need her to. She's our only key. Okay?" No one objected, several people nodded that they understood. "Okay, great. Let's hope the distance from him helps her get better quickly."

_Eve's Room_

Eve pulled Sasha up onto the bed and left her for a moment to grab a chew toy from the stack. The pup latched onto it and curled up in her lap. Eve pet her and closed her eyes, finally able to relax for the first time in what felt like forever. Her eyes opened instinctively as a familiar velvety voice wafted through her ears.

"There's my girls."

A/N:

Managed to write two chapters in one night! Pretty proud of myself :D Now, sleep.


	24. Chapter 24: Even Better

A/N: Sexual content warning! Unfortunately I don't have a convenient _stop reading_ spot as it comes up toward the middle and ends before the end...so I guess stop when they start kissing then skim from the bottom so you don't miss anything. But I don't know how many people who don't love the sexy stuff are still hanging around this far into the story since it is a running theme. I'd rather the sexual scenes be unexpected and a nice surprise instead of giving it away up here, so I don't think further chapters will have warnings up here, unless for violence.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Even Better

As Eve's eyes flew open, her mouth spread into a full-blown smile. Loki was grinning right back. They hadn't been apart for an entire day-not even close, in fact-but he was a sight for sore eyes. He stood tall at the foot of the bed, hands in his pockets, surveying her with hungry eyes. He was dressed well in perfectly tailored clothing, as usual. "You like your gift, I take it?"

"I love it! I love her," she gave Sasha an affectionate pat on the head. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but...should you really be here?"

"Straight to business, I see," he chuckled lightheartedly.

"You know what I mean."

"Well, there are three cameras in here. They have one man monitoring you. I stopped by, cast a temporary aura. As far as he's concerned, you're taking a nap. Now that I have my powers back, it's almost too easy," he smiled confidently.

"Now that you...have your powers _back_?" Eve sat forward. Loki looked away momentarily, then right back, and said nothing. "The whole time? You didn't even have your powers?"

"Not at first," he conceded, not sounding at all remorseful. "Don't look so offended," he scoffed, "it never mattered. I could have and would have killed you without them."

"I don't think you would have…"

He sat beside her on the bed and paused thoughtfully. "Had you not been _you_, I may have." He brushed the hair away from her face. "I'm glad I didn't, if that does anything to ease your sorrow over this."

She pretended to swoon with the back of her hand to her forehead. "Gee, thanks!" She pat him on the shoulder sarcastically.

He snatched her hand as she drew it back and held it. "No, really. Think about it. How many times were you confused about the fact that you were still alive? Or is it that you eventually assumed my threats were empty?"

"No," she confessed, "I was always scared." He smiled as though flattered. "Oh! Did you know that they left one of their recording devices behind? That's how they-"

"I knew…" his eyes met the floor.

"What? Why didn't you say anything? We could have-"

"I knew, but I knew too late."

"How is that even possible? You were able to locate one and point it out to me, did that one just slip through the cracks or something?"

"I've been wondering about that myself, Eve. I honestly think I was too engrossed in our activities. I wasn't as alert as I should have been," he seemed disappointed in himself, though his uncertain expression gradually rose to one of delighted realization. "If I had to do it again, oh, I wouldn't change a damn thing."

She grinned at him and was then distracted by Sasha yawning with a small, sweet noise. "Oh, poor thing has had a long day, huh?" She got up and set up the cushy pet bed in a corner. She placed the pup on the ground and led her to it. She curled up and yawned once more before her eyes drifted shut.

"I'm so glad you two get along," Loki said as Eve sat back down next to him. "I'm a bit surprised they blindly let you keep her."

"I'm pretty sure that was an oversight. I'm not complaining, though," she laughed and admired the dog. Her eyes came back to his and he was staring intensely at her. He embraced her purposefully and held her tight with his face buried into her shoulder. "What do we do now?" She sighed dreamily.

He rested his lips beside her ear before responding softly, "Come away with me."

She pulled back to see his face and measure his seriousness. There was no question that he meant it. "Where would we go?" She asked despite herself, keen to run in the field of her own daydreams for just a moment. She wanted to just say yes, say it a thousand times, in every language.

"Wherever you want," he offered. It was a lovely gesture, yes. But she wanted to go home. She thought it and he heard it. "Why would you want to go back to that place? We can start a new life. We'd never want for anything."

"Loki, as wonderful as that sounds," she began, each new word hurting her, "but is that even what you want? To live life on the run? Always looking over your shoulder?"

"I wouldn't need to worry. _You_ wouldn't need to worry. I'm strong enough now that-"

She placed a finger on his lips. "So you're trying to tell me that the man who wanted to rule an entire planet would settle for a quiet life with a mortal? I don't buy it."

He heard the logic in her words and took a moment to contemplate. It would be easy, yes. And that was exactly why it wasn't the life he wanted. "So you just want to stay here...with them? Indefinitely? They'll never catch me."

"No, of course not…"

"Then come with me! We'll figure it out! I'll make a new, better plan. Then when I succeed, you can sit by my side as my queen!"

She giggled involuntarily. "I'm flattered, don't think I'm not. But that is not a solution." She wanted to say one thing. One nagging thought. They hardly knew each other. They had incredible chemistry and she could see it being something real-as absurd as it was. But he was a bad guy. A villain. She blinked several times as she realized he was in her head.

"A bad guy, huh?" He teased her.

"Stop doing that," she laughed nervously and shook her head.

"But you know all about how bad I can be, don't you?" His tone stooped lower and tickled her ears. She swallowed anxiously. He kissed her intimately and she leaned back until her head hit the pillow. He followed her smoothly so that he was on top and his weight comforted her immensely. It wasn't long before he flipped her so that their positions were switched. She straddled him gladly and continued kissing him, often venturing her tongue into his mouth and against his lips.

He swiped her shirt up over her head and she felt her heart pounding. Their unresolved encounter in the conference room had left her wanting more. She pressed forward to get her mouth on him again, but he held her away. She straightened her spine and eyed him up curiously. He undid her bra clasp and discarded it. He looked her up and down and licked his lips. His hands held her hips and began to sway them back and forth, causing her to grind against him. He was hard and obviously enjoying the sensation as a low moan broke through his lips. "Slower," he commanded as his hands came up to rest at her waist. She deliberately drifted her hips along him, and back again, until his eyes closed involuntarily.

He shot up to a sitting position and caressed her back whilst trailing kisses along her breasts and collar. He undid her pants and pushed her away forcefully so that she was on her back again. He swept his legs out from under her swiftly and took her pants off. "I think I owe you something from earlier, don't I?"

"Oh, you really do," she sighed. In a single blink of her eyes, his clothes were gone. She smiled widely in pure delight. She caught sight of him, rock hard and ready, and lust drove her to shove him back to where he'd been, on his back. She climbed on top and took in his eager look. She guided him inside her easily. A moan erupted from her core immediately and his hands flew straight to her backside, squeezing. She rode him leisurely at first, enjoying the way his lips twitched with desire. One of his hands made its way up her spine and twisted its digits into her hair, pulling and causing her to groan as the dull pain enhanced her pleasure.

"Why don't we pick up the pace slightly?" Loki nearly begged, his patience with her teasing clearly wearing thin. In spite, she rose off of him even more slowly than her previous motions and brought him back in with agonizing care. He laughed off his frustrations with a sexy smirk and pulled her forward so that he could whisper right in her ear. "You might think you enjoy toying with me," he stated huskily, "but I know something you'll like even better." With this, he held her where she was and began thrusting into her from underneath. When he felt her stop resisting out of stubbornness-which didn't take long-he took to pulling her hair again as she'd reacted so warmly to it before. As she moaned on top of him, panting and curling her toes into his legs, he relished in her lust-driven self expression and chose to encourage her until she was satiated. "Do you like that?" He wondered aloud with a hint of sarcasm-she very clearly did.

"Yes, yes I do," she managed to say between moans.

"Do you want me to make you come?" He tugged on her hair again to throw off her answer.

"Ah! Yes!" She replied almost frantically.

His hand slid between them and found her clit almost instantaneously. His pace never suffered as he began playing with it and massaging it rhythmically. Eve felt close to literally blacking out as she peaked. She came so fiercely that shudders pulsed through her body. She shook on top of him, pressing her hips into his, desperately trying to engulf every last centimeter of him.

As she began to relax from the sensation she'd felt, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There came a loud knock at her door and her eyes opened to see that Loki was gone. When she fell forward into the space he'd once occupied, she was fully clothed. Her face collided with the pillow in a haze. She was barely able to right herself as Sam barged in.

"Are you hurt?" He barked, looking her up and down. "It sounded like you were in pain but they told me the monitors showed you sleeping…"

"I-" Eve was at a loss. To go from elation to awkward and abrupt questioning seemed to be an ongoing theme for the day. "Leg cramp," she finished lamely.

Sam seemed relieved by her disjointed thought and smiled, even though it was obvious he was trying to be upset with her. "Better now, then?" He unsuccessfully tried to sound indifferent.

"Yes, thank you," Eve rested her head back. Her insides were still on fire, her entire body still trying to come down from the high Loki had provided. She gained some awareness of the present as a thought glided through her mind. "Why were you listening at my door?" She knew that Loki wouldn't have overlooked the auditory aspects of the cameras, so why hadn't he cast some sort of spell on the room itself?

"I'm assigned to keep an eye on you," Sam was quiet as though he expected anger from her.

She gave him none, just a resigned sigh, and said nothing more until he left. As she settled back and contemplated actually taking a nap, Loki appeared next to her, mouth to her ear. She jumped slightly, startled. "Looks like you owe me something next time," he spoke before leaving her, alone, again.

A/N:

My keyboard is being really weird, sometimes not picking up letters or typing on a weird delay. I tried to find all the typos and missing letters and such, but forgive me if some went unnoticed. Anyway! I wish I could have let Eve run away with him, and I guess I _could _have... but it's just not something she would do. And Loki would end up unhappy or regretting it in some way. At least I think so. Fear not, though, he'll be popping in and out of the story at his leisure, and yes it is all going somewhere :D


	25. Chapter 25: No Small Feat

Chapter Twenty-Five: No Small Feat

Eve was experiencing whiplash. She took note of Sasha, who had somehow slept through every boisterous noise surrounding her. The idea seemed quite simple. Escapist, maybe. Easy, surely. She considered that not every moment of her life needed to be drenched in complication. So she went to sleep. Her dreams were uneventful and plain-and for that reason alone, they were magnificent. Her eyes opened to the sound of three heavy knocks, two low-toned beeps and her door opening.

Sam entered her room with considerably more caution than before. When she saw him, she thought to sit up, but her grogginess prevented it. "Uh, we're having dinner. Are you hungry?"

"Very," she nearly whispered, feeling her stomach cramp and gurgle.

"Okay, I'll walk you down there."

Eve stood and checked to make sure Sasha had food and water. Once certain, she followed Sam into the hall. They began walking in strained silence. She knew it wouldn't be this way forever. At least she prayed it wouldn't. "What-no handcuffs?" She joked and he smiled her way. She was immediately grateful that he seemed warmer toward her now. Though, it had always been a challenge for him to remain upset with her. This was admittedly a very different scenario than any others they'd previously encountered. But a friendship like theirs was stronger than most things. If they could somehow get through this, they'd be able to get through anything. And they seemed to be on their way already.

_Elsewhere_

Before Natasha could knock, Barton opened his door. His posture communicated that he was one his way out. Was he actually going to eat dinner with everyone else? "Are you actually going to eat dinner with everyone else?" She tried not to sound alarmed or confused, but failed.

"Is that...a problem?" He broke into uncomfortable laughter.

"No! No, it's just…"

"I'm a loner? I hate everyone lately?" Her smile fell a bit at this. "Nat. Not _everyone_." She perked back up. "I just feel, I dunno, better. Now that we have her here at least. It's not the big bad, but it's the best thing we could hope for."

"I'm glad she's here, too."

"Yeah, but for other reasons. Don't get started on how you sympathize with her, just let me enjoy this good mood I've found. Who knows how long it's going to be before another one comes around."

She took a step back to take in his entire aura. He was open, confident and he looked happy. "I like you much better this way," she encouraged playfully.

"Well, just wait until we actually catch him. I'm going to be bouncing off the goddamn walls." She smiled warmly and looked toward the empty hallway as though anxious to meet everyone and eat. "Listen," he reached for her hand and held it assuringly. "Thank you for being so patient with me, since the incident. Heaven knows I didn't deserve it."

She squeezed his hand and looked back at him, not so concerned with making it to the dining room any longer. "We go back a lot farther than just this past week. I know the next time some crazy alien race is attacking and I'm losing my mind-"

"Come _on_, Nat, don't give me that. You never lose your cool."

"I've been known to-"

"_Never_. Never ever."

She blushed. "Maybe you're right."

"I am. You're being modest. It's cute."

Before she could even smile in response to his impromptu flirtation, he was in her personal space. He was touching her chin. He was kissing her. All of the steamy thoughts she'd been suppressing came rushing to the front of her brain. And she welcomed them gladly, fed them and nurtured them. The intensity of their embrace escalated at near inhuman levels. It was savage, animalistic and in the hall. Natasha heard footsteps around the corner and shoved him back through his doorway.

"Please tell me you're coming with me," he begged.

She simply grinned as she strutted past him and settled in on his bed. "Shut the door," she commanded decisively and he slammed it without looking back.

_Dining Room_

Eve had expected some form of cafeteria with hard plastic chairs and tables, sort of like a high school cafeteria. But when Sam opened the door for her, she saw a long wooden table with ornate matching chairs that had plush upholstered seats. There was an array of food set up along it, it resembled a full Thanksgiving dinner. The Avengers turned to look at her from their seats when she entered. All seemed present save for the director and the other SHIELD agents. That was a blessing and a curse for her. She was looking forward to Natasha's companionship, but she wouldn't miss Barton's glaring hatred of her.

Darcy beamed and flagged them down. "Come sit next to me!" She squealed excitedly. "I wasn't sure you'd be joining us, since you're a suspect or whatever." Jane gave her an uneasy look. Eve smiled weakly and walked over to her, feeling curious eyes pointed in her direction at all times. Sam followed and sat beside her once she'd settled in. The food on the table had clearly been picked through already and everyone had a full plate.

Thor leaned over Jane and Darcy and grabbed Eve's plate from its setting. "You must be hungry," he commented enthusiastically as he shoveled scalloped potatoes onto a section of the dish, "making love to an Asgardian is no small feat for a mortal. Right, Jane?" He elbowed her and grinned ear to ear. Jane blushed and finished chewing, staring at her food.

"He's been drinking since before we started dinner," Bruce made no effort to conceal his amusement.

"This is a celebration!" Thor shouted and pounded on the table before finishing up Eve's plate and handing it down the line to her.

"He's right, though, I bet," Darcy laughed as she passed the dish from Jane to Eve. "You and Jane will have so much to talk about."

"No, we won't," Jane responded curtly without looking at them.

Eve grimaced. That was fair, she guessed, since Jane was with the hero and she was with…

"Jane! Don't be a bitch," Darcy elbowed her from her side.

"Okay. Everyone stop elbowing me," Jane rubbed her arm.

Darcy looked her dead in the eyes and began jabbing her elbow into her side rapidly.

"Darcy has also been drinking since before we started dinner," Steve contributed.

"Since before lunch, even!" Darcy ceased torturing Jane to finish her drink.

"Where are Agent Barton and-" Sam began after looking around the room.

Tony cut him off. "God I hope they're getting down to business already."

"You think they haven't yet?" Bruce wondered, genuinely interested.

"No, it's a completely different kind of tension whether they have or not. Before, it's like they're both dancing around an obvious fact and pretending we don't all see it. After, it's like they're both dancing around an obvious fact and worried that we all see it. It's a subtle difference, but I make it my business to know," Tony stated matter-of-factly.

"You make it your business to know?" Eve couldn't help but interject.

"No, but when we're not chasing bad guys around and blowing them up with our lasers…" he surveyed the room and pushed his lips out, "_my_ lasers, what else is there to do around here?"

"In this giant building in the middle of New York?" Bruce jabbed.

"Read a book," Jane chuckled.

"What makes you think I don't read books?" Tony coupled this with a cartoonish pout.

Dinner went by and Eve grew more and more comfortable. It became clear that apart from Jane, no one else had an outward dislike of her. It make her feel marginally better about her position. When they were finished eating, they all left together in a group, laughing about some silly thing Thor had said or done-Eve had missed the actual act but laughed along anyway.

Natasha and Barton strolled toward them, dancing around an obvious fact and worried everyone could see it. Tony looked back at Eve and winked knowingly. "You guys just missed the party," he said.

Barton shrugged as though it didn't matter to him. His expression was completely carefree until he saw Eve with the group. "Was Fury okay with you bringing the loon along?" He nodded her way and Natasha leaned into him, willing him to stop.

"His orders, in fact," Sam answered coolly with a hint of defensiveness.

Barton scoffed and approached her. Natasha stayed behind where they were, and everyone else tensed up. "Chill out, I'm not going to hurt her or anything," he addressed the team. "Not like you should be worried about this criminal anyway. I just want to make one thing perfectly clear, okay? I will never be on your side. I will never be happy to see you. The circumstances of what happened don't change the facts. I think you are despicable. What would your mother say?"

Eve's mouth opened in a slight shock as it occurred to her that her mother didn't know where she was or how she was doing. She realized she didn't know what day of the week it was, and she always went to visit her mom on Wednesdays. What if Wednesday had come and gone? Did her mother wonder where she was? The thing that cut her the deepest was that she didn't know if she would even be concerned. Her eyes shot up to Barton and Sam recognized that look, his fingertips grazed her arm but it was too late. She hopped lightly and got her feet in position before slugging him in the jaw. Once, and then again. He stumbled back with his hands up to protect his face, but never actually fell.

The group made a collectively shocked sound and someone took her by the elbow and dragged her away from everyone. When the rage subsided, she looked to her right.

"Keep your mouth shut," Fury instructed as he pulled her along. She started to turn her head to look back. "Don't even think about it," he snapped, and she obliged.

A/N:

Ohhh I know it's been a bit of a wait for this chapter :( Work has been kicking my butt! I had little bits and pieces of this scribbled in different notebooks and on my phone, I worked on it whenever I had a spare minute of inspiration. Happy to get back into it, I hate letting it sit for so long. Barton probably has mixed feelings about this installment :P


	26. Chapter 26: Regret

Chapter Twenty-Six: Regret

Darcy was on cloud nine. "I hope this day never, ever ends. It just keeps getting better. I'm starting to believe there is a God."

"I'm gonna have to agree with you there. Maybe not the last part," Tony finished speaking but his lips remained parted in shock and awe. "Was that a lucky shot, or…?"

"She seemed trained," Steve added.

"She _is _trained," Sam clarified.

"Kinda seems like something you should have told SHIELD," Bruce noted.

"I didn't have to tell them, they knew."

"Then it kinda seems like something you should have told us," Bruce craned his neck trying to get a better look at the defeated Barton.

"I actually thought you knew."

"Oh come on, unless there's aliens or some shit, no one ever tells us anything. Why would you think that?" Tony stared at Sam in disbelief.

"Well, they knew," Sam nodded to the pair of SHIELD agents. Natasha was standing by her newly injured comrade but keeping a fair distance, knowing that he was the type not to accept help even when he needed it. And none of his bones were broken, so he didn't even need it. The time they'd just spent together made her feel protective and close to him. She wanted to dote on him, pamper him, and make sure he was okay, but none of that would be appropriate.

"You two knew?" Tony pointed to one of them and then the other.

"I don't answer to you, Stark. You don't have to know what I know," Barton moved his hands at last and his lip was bleeding.

Tony let out a small laugh. "Oh, this has nothing to do with the fact that you knew and we didn't. It's really just about the fact that you knew at all-and you still got absolutely wrecked by her."

"I never in a million years thought she'd be stupid enough to hit me. I was in shock," Barton defended himself as he wiped the dripping blood from his chin and winced.

"That's probably how Loki felt, too," Thor chuckled at the thought of his brother getting hit the way he'd just witnessed.

"So you got in her face and expected her _not_ to hit you?" Bruce waved his hand incredulously. "As Thor just mentioned... she punched the God of Mischief, why wouldn't she punch you?"

Natasha noticed the anger brewing in his stomach again and decided to speak up at last. "Even so, would any of you expect a girl like that to be quick enough to best you? Even if you had known, we'd never seen her in action. Let's just-"

"Stop," Barton interjected, "there's no reason why I shouldn't have been able to defend myself. I don't want to stand here bleeding and make excuses. Those were two solid punches she hit me with, and I hate to admit I'm impressed. But she should probably learn a bit of self control. In all aspects of her life."

_Elsewhere_

Fury had led Eve to his office and sat her down across from him. He'd stared at her for minutes on end, saying nothing, just looking stern. Eve was too intimidated and ashamed to say a word, so she waited patiently with her palms sweating until he finally broke the silence.

"You wanna tell me what happened back there?" He sounded calm but she didn't believe it.

"I punched Agent Barton. I'm s-"

"You better not be about to apologize." She bit her lip. "I _saw_ that you punched him. Why? Just kinda felt like hitting someone?"

"He made a comment about my mother. I mean, not like a yo mama joke or something like that." Fury rolled his eyes. "He just implied that she wouldn't be happy with the way my life is going as of late, which is probably true, but-"

"Okay, stop. Now I'm gonna ask you something. And don't even think about slugging me. Do you think your mother would be happy with the way you handled this situation?"

Eve felt like crying. It was like being scolded by a principal. "Maybe not," she answered.

"Alright, and we're gonna come back to that. In the meantime, let me just say that from what I saw-you really know what you're doing. Agent Barton is one of the quickest men I've ever worked with. There's no reason why you should have gotten one hit on him, let alone two. You could argue that he wouldn't fight you back, but he could have defended himself. You're fast. Maybe it's not a coincidence that you landed in our nest, Eve. If you trained with SHIELD, you would learn how to channel that training and not be so hotheaded. I'm surprised you didn't learn that form of discipline, if you're as skilled as your records imply."

"That's the one thing I've never been good at. I act first, ask questions later."

"And let me tell you something, sometimes that's okay. But definitely not always. So how about it?"

Eve didn't understand what he was asking her to do. "How about what?"

"Train with SHIELD, become an Agent."

"Oh, well, I mean," she was at a loss. "What?"

"I don't know another way to say it. If I find someone who's able to best someone on my team, even for a moment, I want them on my team."

She thought about it. Or, at least she tried to. She wasn't sure how exactly to think about it. "Can I sleep on it?"

"I'll call Agent Barrows to bring you back to your room," Fury agreed, sounding a bit dejected.

In a few minutes, Sam pushed the door open and beckoned her to come with him. "They're not hanging around anymore, they went their separate ways," he informed her and she nodded thankfully. "I tried to stop you, but you've always been faster than me. Even after they trained me here."

"How much does he hate me now?" She sighed.

"Actually, I think you may have gained a tiny bit of respect from him."

Eve laughed. "Don't you lie to me."

"I'm not!" He laughed along. "I mean, he still despises you. And for good reason, might I add."

Eve's laughter halted. "Can we just...let's not talk about it. I'm not going to pretend I did nothing wrong, I've just talked about it all so much today. So as a favor to me, let's forget it, just for tonight, okay?"

"Fine," he agreed, sounding cold.

She pinched his upper arm. "You're not trying hard enough," she teased.

"Fine! Fine!" He added with a wide smile. He slid his keycard over the sensor and opened her door after the tones sounded. He walked in before her and eyed up the pile of chew toys and other miscellaneous items. "So I should pretend none of this is here, too?"

"Come on, how can you hate Sasha?"

"I don't hate _Sasha_, I hate that-" before he could finish, she had scooped Sasha up out of the bathroom where she'd wandered and was holding the pup up to his face.

"Look at that nose! Look at those little paws!" Sasha yipped and licked Sam's cheek. "Aww, see? She likes you!" It was nice to watch Sam unwind a bit and act like friends again. But as far as she tried to sweep the elephant in the room under the rug...it was a _big_ elephant. And a small rug. Still they went on pretending for each other's benefit.

Sasha was ecstatic with all the attention she was getting. Sam and Eve ended up sitting next to each other on the floor up against the wall. The puppy walked across their laps and snuggling them as they talked until eventually she fell asleep on Sam's legs. "Poor baby, too much excitement," Eve cooed as she pet the dog's head and ears.

Sam was smiling warmly at her. "I don't want to get mushy or anything, I just want to say that I've missed this. A lot. I know it hasn't even been that long-"

"I've missed it too." Eve meant what she said, and it was a great relief to just hang out with him again, with no one holding her by the throat and forcing her to lie. "This has just been the most fucked up week."

"I thought we weren't talking about it?"

"You're right. you're right. My bad," Eve smiled at him.

Sam was just so glad to have her back. Almost delusionally so, especially considering she could have been killed in the process. So when he looked into her eyes and they weren't distant or jaded, when he heard her voice and it wasn't cold or harsh, he was overwhelmed. Despite having a strong feeling regarding how it would end, he leaned into her and kissed her.

Eve saw him coming toward her and had ample time to stop it. But she let it happen, she even closed her eyes for a moment. He pulled away after that long second, honestly shocked he'd gotten even that far. She didn't look offended or troubled, not even slightly upset. He was tempted to kiss her again, as her welcoming lips were one of the best things he'd ever experienced. Different from how she'd reacted last time. Different in the best way. He was anxious, but he waited for her reaction.

She opened her eyes again and tried to understand the haze she was in. He was in her sight but she wasn't seeing him, she was looking right through him, lost in thought. She felt warm, in a way that was almost indescribable. She was grateful that after everything, it was clear he still loved her. And if he still did after everything with Loki-

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Loki?" She looked forward and saw his shoes. She trailed her eyes up to his face, and upon it was a look she'd never seen before.

He knelt down between the two of them and ignored Eve completely. He gripped Sam's chin and snarled. "You are going to regret that."

A/N:

I wanted to put in the last one that I'd be uploading another chapter soon, but I felt like if I did that I'd end up not finishing it or something :P I feel like I write faster when Loki isn't around because I'm just dying for him to get back haha. There will be a lot of him next chapterrr :D

(Once again, a late night edit, let me know of any typos!)


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